The Help You Want And The Help You Need
by Shy Shay
Summary: I don't get it. I'm no hero. I'm a monster. I'm worthless. So why do they all insist on helping me? Danny Phanton and Teen Titans crosover. DannyXRaven.
1. New Beginnings

Disclaimer: I do not own Dany Phantom or Teen Titans. Sadly.

New Beginnings

Danny was walking down the sidewalk and sighed. One year. Just one year. That's how long it took for his life to take a complete one eighty. More like a seven twenty. Danny sighed in reluctant bemusement. He just shook his head and entered his new store; "The Fenton Works Book Store." Well, it was called a book store but it was more like a gothic café. He had one of those devices that pours delicious liquids into small paper cups. The lighting and color scheme made the whole thing rather dark, and books were not for sale unless the store had two so. That way one was always available for reading.

He got in and looked around. Bookshelves with books covering everything from ghosts to aliens to inter-dimensional destroyers covered the walls. All organized by topic and power. He rearranged some books, and put "Trigon the Terrible" back on the top self. He shook his head. These books were organized by topic _and _power. He would have to have a talk with Vlad about his organization method. Since he came for a visit, he found books out of place every day!

After making sure that everything was to his liking, Danny went downstairs to his lab. It had a closed ghost portal and all sorts of ghost hunting equipment. It would be very reminiscent of his parents' old lab if it wasn't so clean and organized. He went over to the specter deflector rack and picked one up. 'I just got access to my electrical powers, too.' He looked at the glowing green belt forlornly, and put it around his waist, just above the first one. He powered it up.

"Gerk!" He would never get used to putting those things on.

He transformed himself into his ghost half and proceeded to test his abilities, starting with his most versatile one. The ability to change his ghostly form.

He transformed into a girl. "Gender, check." He made himself a toddler. "Age, tweck." He proceeded to turn into several different things, from Plasmious to Skulker's true form to the president of the United States. He still couldn't remove his ghostly aura, though. "Ok, transformation is all good." He proceeded to transform back to his natural ghost form. He never outgrew his old jumpsuit. It was a link to his past.

He proceeded to shoot several targets located around the room. "Ecto-blasts, check."

He checked all of his other abilities that he had. "Invisibility, check. Intangibility, check. Ecto-shield, check."

He then checked his elemental powers of ice and electricity. They both were severely weakened due to the two glowing belts he was wearing. He just shook his head and gave out a disappointed sigh. Danny didn't like to 'go ghost' anymore, but it was one of two requirements that Vlad gave him. "You must keep in practice, little badger."

With that he phased up to his room and transformed back. His bedroom was of a Spartan style, with just a door, a light, and a mat on the floor. Since the death of his family and friends, he didn't see the need to have anything else. He lay down and went to sleep. His last thoughts were spent wondering why Vlad required him to live in Jump City.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you all for reading my story! I really appriecate. Now, I know that the first chapter is a little short, but I am going to work on that for the next chapter. There are many other things that I want to work on, as well, and I probably don't even know were all my flaws in my writing are. So, I ask that you, the readers, do something to help me on my quest to better my writing. It isn't a big thing. All I ask is that you review with any coments on what I should improve and how, and any glaring mistakes that you see. Hopefully, your comments will help me learn to write better and thus make this story more injoyable to read! Of course, I wouldn't argue with complets either...  
-Shy Shay**


	2. Playing Hero

**A/N: Thank you everbody that reviewed! hot dog285, dragonrose, mwahahahaha, nightwolf23, Nysk, Nazran, and Umbra8191! Now, before you read my chapter, their are two main issuies that popped up in the reviews. Danny's history, and Danny's power. Now, as for Danny's history, the only hint that I will give you is that it is the Dan incident, but with my own twists. Which you do not get to know yet. As for the power, yes, I gave him morphing and electrical powers. As for morphing, it doesn't really change Danny's strangth or weight. It is only usefull for desgiuse, and becouse he can't get rid of his ghostly aura, even that is pretty useless. I will not use Sunnydale syndrome here. With regards to the electrical powers, it is severly weakened just like his ice powers, due to the two belts he his wearing. Bonus points to anybody who can tell me the name! Now...on to the chapter!  
**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or Teen Titans. Sadly.

Playing Hero

_Vlads' usual confidence was absent in his face as he handed the credit card to Danny. "As long as you follow those two rules, you can use as much money as you need." Danny didn't say anything. He just turned around and walked out of the mansion. Vlad stared on mournfully. "Are you sure that this will save the future?" A glowing, floating, green baby with a staff appeared next to him._

_"No."_

_"Are you sure that this will save Danny?"_

_"No."_

_"Are sure that this will save anything?"_

_"No. But I can hope."_

* * *

Raven was wondering Jump City, away from her friends. They were all beginning to get on her nerves, and she really needed a breather. Not that she'd ever admit it. She also heard about a recent addition to the few dark and supernatural stores in the city, and she wanted to check it out. See if there were any books that she didn't own. And if not, she could always just relax their and take that breather that she needed.

She turned a corner, and saw her intended destination. "The Fenton Works Book Store". Hmm. Interesting name.

Raven shook her head, put her hood up, and entered the store. She hoped that the store itself was more promising then the name. She was suitable impressed. The store had a dark mood, but it was still bright enough to read. There were plenty of Goths comfortably relaxing and reading. Just her kind of place. As she looked around, Raven quickly realized that she had no idea where the books that she wanted were. There was a person reading a book called 'Fighting Mental Intrusions'. She assumed that that person was the manager. She walked up and tapped the book.

"What do you want?" the obviously male voice said with more than a hint of impatience.

"Is that how you treat all your customers?"

"Yes."

"Alright." She can't say that she was entirely upset about his brutal honesty. It was kind of refreshing. "I'm wondering if you had any books on Trigon." She wasn't very hopeful, but she decided that it was worth a shot.

"Yep." She blinked in surprise.

"Far right, top self." Raven could tell that this guy wasn't too happy about having been interrupted in his reading. She decided to not push her luck by asking where he got a book on Trigon when no other bookstore did. She shrugged her shoulders and walked to the indicated shelf.

She heard mutterings around her, all of them wondering about why a teen titan was visiting this bookstore. She could feel curiosity and fear coming off of every person in the room. Except for the guy behind the counter. He felt like an emotional blank. What emotions did come off of him were extremely muted. Curios. She shook her head and reached up for the big book, 'Trigon the Terrible'.

She removed her hood and began reading through it. The section on Trigons powers was particularly interesting. It showed possible loopholes and theorized exceptions. Raven decided that she should buy this book. She promptly closed it and walked up to the counter, forgetting to put up her hood back up.

"Excuse me; I'd like to purchase this book." She said to the man behind the book.

"Fine. Just a second." Even though Raven could hear the impatience, she couldn't feel it. Curious.

He wrapped up his book and put it down. Without even looking up, he turned the computer by his side. He was clearly a teenager, and had spiky black hair, though not nearly as spiky as Robin's. She couldn't see the rest of his face, but from what she could see of his body, he was clearly muscular. Raven wondered what a kid her age was doing running a bookstore.

"What book do you want to buy?"

"Trigon the Terrible."

The young man typed the name into the computer, and read the information that came up. "That book is not for sale."

"I thought this was a book store." Raven was slightly irritated, though she quickly repressed it. She was still wondering why this kid didn't seem to feel anything, while she was getting irritable.

"It's the only copy in the store."

"I thought that book stores sold ALL their books."

"I always keep one copy of every book so others can read it." The young male had a smirk painted on his face as he began to look up. Raven could feel a kind of smug satisfaction coming from him. Until he looked into her eyes.

* * *

Danny widened his eyes. Sam? Impossible. She was dead. Gone! How could she be here? Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no. She must hate me. I killed her! I…killed her…I killed her…I killed her…Oh. Wait. That isn't Sam. Oh, thank the heavens. She IS dead! Oh…right…she's dead. Man, who is this anyway? Oh. It's a 'Teen Titan'. The great 'Hero's' of Jump city. I doubt they realize the responsibilities and the troubles that come with the title of 'hero'. If you don't know, then your kids, playing in an idyllic world. I have no time for people who play hero. I have no time for the Teen Titans.

* * *

Raven widened her eyes. What was with this rush of emotion? It was as if a dam had broken down and everything in his heart was flowing out. First came recognition. Then came fear…which she was always sad to feel. But…not the fear she normally felt…more like fear of what Raven thought of him? What was that about? Then there was a _very_ strong felling of self loathing. It took all Raven had to not run out. After that came…relief? Shortly after came recognition again…and then anger. Raw anger and disdain. After that…all she saw was a pair of red eyes, laughing at her. They reminded her of her father…

Suddenly, Ravens communicator range. A moment after it range, all of those emotions disappeared, and the young man was blank again. It disappeared so fast that it felt like it was never there at all. Raven shook her head and pulled up her hood. She teleported to the tower. As she left, she heard this come from the boys' mouth: "Hmph. Heroes."

* * *

Danny shook his head. He didn't expect to see the ghost of Sam appear right in front of him. That really threw him for a loop. He put his head in his hands and took deep breaths. Deep breaths. OK. All better now. He hated living near the 'hero's' of Jump City, but it was better than the empty Fenton Works.

After Danny calmed down, he picked up the book and put it back on the self. 'I wondered why she wanted it.' Whatever. Danny promptly sat down and continued to read his book.

Danny felt the ground shake. He quickly shut his book and looked around. Everybody else was looking around, too. Soon the object that caused everybody curiosity came into view right outside the window. It looked like a giant cement man. The Teen Titan fans in the book store would recognize him as 'Cinderblock'. Everybody promptly panicked. Well, everybody except Danny, that is. He just shook his head and watched as the book store empted itself in record time. He walked out, not forgetting to lock the door behind him, and watched in bemusement, waiting for the Teen Titans to come. So he waited.

And waited.

And waited.

As Danny waited, he watched the giant cinderblock tear up the town. He would leave giant footprints in the street, and he would occasionally punch or kick a building. Danny started to get worried. Where were the Teen Titans? Wasn't this their town to save? Where were they? Danny was about to take matters into his own hands…when he remembered the last time he tried to be a hero. He hung his head, and walked back to his shop.

"HEEELP!"

Danny's head whipped around, and saw Cinderblock about to step on an old lady. Danny really didn't want to do this, but he had no choice. He phased into a nearby building and transformed. He rushed back outside and got to his target right before she was squashed. He quickly made her intangible. He sighed in relief.

After he was sure that the lady was safe, he turned to Cinderblock, a fire in his eyes. He was furious. He hated playing the hero. He would make this dunderhead pay.

He rushed to the back of Cinderblock, a ball of ectoplasm in his hand. He pushed it against the moving cement wall, and let him have it. When the smoke from the explosion cleared, Danny was shocked to find that all that had happened was the big block tumbled forward a couple of feet. (Cinderblock feet, not human feet) Danny didn't understand. That should have left a crater! He shook his head free of confusion. He didn't have the time to be confused.

* * *

Cinderblock wasn't the brightest villain in the city. All he did was follow orders, and good things happened. Slade ordered him to free Plasmus, so he did. Slade told him to cause havoc while the Titan's were busy, so he did. So when he felt a huge blast in his back, he was confused. He was convinced that all of the Titans weren't here. Slade told him so. He was confused. Cinderblock didn't like being confused. When Cinderblock was confused, he got mad. Cinderblock was mad.

* * *

Danny rushed forward, with glowing ectoplasm to protect his hands, prepared to punch the brick in the head. He was not expecting Cinderblock to catch its second wind quite so fast, so Danny was cruising at a hundred fifty miles an hour into a brick fist. Danny quickly learned that cruising at a hundred fifty miles per hour into a brick fist, even with a hand protected by ectoplasm going first, hurt.

"Ow!" Danny yelled as he flew backwards into a building. 'Step one: avoid fist. Step two: hurt brick head. Step three: leave before the Titans show up.' With a new plan in head, Danny proceeded to focus even more ectoplasm into his right fist, preparing to release it the moment he was close enough to do some damage.

Danny rushed forward at two hundred miles per hour, preparing to hit brick head in this face. This time, when Cinderblock raised his fist, he was ready. He quickly turned intangible and flied through the fist towards the head. The moment he hit the giant cement block, he released the ectoplasm stored in his hand. The effect was just what he was hoping for. The explosion combined with the two hundred mile per hour fist caused him to stumble backwards. 'Come on, come on…' Danny was hoping that Cinderblock would fall down, allowing him to attempt to trap him. Unfortunately, it looked like even the explosion with the fist wasn't enough. He just stumbled a bit. 'No!'

"Booyeah!" Yelled a strong voice as a blue beam tipped Cinderblock over. Danny didn't know what was going on, but he wasn't going to argue. He quickly grabbed the some beams that were left over by a building that cinderblock destroyed. He dragged them over, and used his ectoplasm to bend it around brick head.

Danny took a deep breath. He was mad. He was really mad. He knew his anger was irrational, but he didn't care. He fought alone. And he would make sure that whoever was behind him would know it. He turned his head, a fire in his green eyes. When he saw it was Cyborg, he laughed. A Teen Titan without his team? And he thought he was good enough to beat block head alone. This was hilarious!

Cyborg was confused. He just helped a new super-teen defeat Cinderblock, and he was laughing. "Dude, are you alright?"

"Am I alright? Hehehe…this is hilarious."

"What are you talking about?"

"Hehe…I'm talking about how there's a single titan here that thinks he can beat a villain on his own."

"Hey, I'm strong enough!"

"He…you might be, but all of you 'titans' are weak. You depend on each other too much. Alone, you have no chance. Your friendships make you weak." Cyborg was mad. He showed it by pointing his sonic cannon at the face of this rude hero.

"Take. That. Back."

"Hah! And you don't even know what it means to wear the title of 'hero'." Danny continued as if Cyborg didn't say a thing.

"Oh, and you do?"

"Yes." That was it. Cyborg was furious. This…this kid appears out nowhere trying to take out Cinderblock on his own, when the entire Teen Titans couldn't! And after Cyborg decided to save his sorry butt, he has the nerve to lecture him on his job, telling him that he doesn't even know how to be a hero! In a fit of rage, he fired his sonic cannon.

In the dust that followed, the kid was nowhere to be seen. He felt a blast from behind, and fell to the ground because of it. He turned around to see the jerk staring at him.

"That's why I'm not one." And with that sentence, the kid disappeared. Cyborg shook his head, and thought about what that strange kid said. He saw how bitter he was, how lonely he was. Cyborg didn't want to end up like that. He rubbed the back of his neck, and decided to reconcile with Robin about their stupid fight. If that kid was an indication of anything, it wasn't worth it. He called a tow truck to drag Cinderblock away, and proceeded to search for his team.

* * *

Danny was furious. He needed to calm down. He really shouldn't have reacted that badly to the poor Titan. Even if all of what he said was true, he didn't need to say it. He promised himself that he would stay OUT of the hero scene! He needed to calm down. He decided to close shop for the rest of the day and went to the local dojo. His sensei did want him there today, and he needed to beat something up. Bad.

* * *

Cyborg was in the Tower gym, exercising. What that kid said still bothered him.

"Hey, Cyborg, what's wrong?" Robin said from the entrance to the room. He knew he team well enough to know when something was wrong.

"It's what that kid said. It's still bothering me!" Cyborg put down the heavy bricks that he was lifting and turned around. "And why are you in a karate uniform?"

"I'm going to do a demonstration at the local dojo, remember? And don't let it bother you. There's no use in getting upset about it. Besides, he himself said he wasn't a hero, remember?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. See ya' around."

"See ya'." As Robin turned around, he heard Cyborg lifting up the heavy bricks again. He smiled and shook his head. He was glad that he reconciled with Cyborg. They wouldn't have been able to beat Plasmus without his help. He walked out of Titan Tower, and proceeded to head to the local dojo. He promised the owner that he would fight his strongest student. He smirked, his competitive streak getting ahead of him. He was going to show this 'Danny' what a real martial artist could do.


	3. Diffrent Kinds of Fights

**A/N: Dear Nazran. I love you! Your reviews are of endless help! And don't worry. I will give you all more details about Dannys' past in the next chapter. However, not _all _of the details will be reavieled just yet. Also, in case you are wondering about the other details of my chapters, I am writing a chapter per episode of Teen Titans. I am only writing where things are diffrent from the episode, so my chapters may seem to be missing a few important steps. If you are wondering what the rest of this chapter should contain, then watch the Teen Titans episode two, seanson one, "Sisters".**

Different Kinds of Fight

_"Ok, Daniel. I see your point." Vlads' face was full of sadness. "However, I do still two stipulations before I and you this credit card."_

_"What are they?" Danny was impatiant. He just wanted to get out of here and start up a store._

_"The first is that you must remin in practice with your ghost form."_

_"What! No! I refuse to do that!"_

_"Danny, it is either that or you go back to Amity Park."_

_Danny didn't like this, but he could tell that he had no choice. "Fine."_

_"The second is that you live in Jump City."_

* * *

"Hu! Ha!" Danny yelled, punching into the air. He was in the local dojo, practicing his forms and such.

"Danny-san! Halt!" A hulking man in a black gi shouted.

"Ha!" With that last punch, he pulled his hands back to his chest and put them down in very controlled fashion.

"Danny-san, this arrived yesterday." The man said, as he held out a black belt to the youth.

"Thank you, sensei." Danny took the belt and wrapped around his torso.

The giant man, known only as 'sensei', walked to the front of the dojo. "Students! Today we will have a visitor! He is preparing himself in the room behind, and one student will have the honor of fighting him! This visitor is Robin of the Teen Titans!"

Danny rolled his eyes. He already met two of the Titans earlier today, and he was in no mode to meet the leader of those so called heroes. He promptly walked to the door.

"Danny-san! Don't you want to know who will fight him?" Danny stopped, but didn't turn around. This behavior would normally be thought of as rude, but in the dojo people got a sense of each other based on how they fought, and everybody knew that Danny was not somebody to mess with. "Of course, if you don't want to fight Robin, then you don't have to." Danny turned around and went back to his original position. Sensei allowed a smug smile to creep to his face. He knew his students well.

"Robin-san! The class is ready for you!" Sensei walked backwards a couple of steps, as the boy wonder came into view.

"Uhh…Hi?" Robin said sheepishly. He didn't think he'd ever get used to public appearances like this. He gazed around and looked at all of the admiring stares he was getting. Well, except for one person. He had black, spiky hair like himself, had a black belt on, and his eyes were full of disdain. He rarely saw villains with those eyes, and only ever one hero. Those eyes were dangerous.

"Danny-san! Take the floor!" The kid with dangerous eyes walked up to stand across from Robin. He took a stance. Robin took a quick look around the room, and saw eyes full of fear.

"Now! Both combatants may only Kung-fu! No Karate, no judo, no nothing!"

Robin's competitive streak got the better of him. He would show these to students how a real fight went. "To protect Danny, right?"

"Oh, it's to protect one of you." Sensei knew his students.

"Ready…" Robin took one last look around the room and no longer saw any fear. Instead, they looked like they were ready for the fight of a century.

"Steady…" Danny stared at Robin and smirked, the disdain never leaving his eyes.

"Fight!"

Robin rushed at Danny, fist first, prepared to knock his clock off. Danny just sidestepped and whapped the back of his head. "Robin," Sensei said, "If you don't take this seriously, you _will_ get seriously hurt. Danny, no more holding back." Robin heard what sensei said, and quickly turned around, in time to see a round house kick coming to head. Robin turned a duck into a back flip, trying to get some distance between them. No such luck. Danny ran after him, and punched him while he was in the middle of a back flip.

"Gah!" Man, that hurt! No more mister nice Robin. He rolled into the ground, using the momentum from the kick to his advantage. He hopped up, only to see Danny charging after him. Robin read the muscles, and realized that he was going to jump kick him. When he did, he was ready. He stepped to the side, much like Danny did earlier. Except when the head passed him, he used a full blown punch.

"Gerk!" Danny felt that. Even with the blow to the head, he still managed to land on his feet. He whipped around, to see Robin smirking at him. Damn it! He could tell what he was doing! And he was certain he didn't leave any signs of it! Danny came up with another plan on the spot.

Robin watched Danny charge at him again, and he saw his muscles tense to show that he was about to stop on a dime and use his momentum to give him a killer round house kick to the right. Robins smirk widened. He got into his stance, preparing to block it with one hand and punch with the other. He had to get his timing just right.

Danny saw Robin tense, and hoped that his plan would work. Just as he was about to kick him he threw all of his momentum to his left, and rolled to Robins side. He ignored the ripping sensation that went with it.

Robins' eyes widened. How did he do that? He went against all of his muscles and somehow still managed to roll around! This was bad. His muscles were already committed, and he was begging to act it out. His left hand rose to block, his right shot forwards.

Danny hopped up and put every fiber of his being into his punch. He had no time for the Teen Titans.

Robin knew that if he didn't have to hold back, things would have gone differently. However, with those eyes, those eyes that looked like he had to fight for every second his life, he didn't know what would have happened. Those eyes, those eyes that he rarely ever saw, those eyes that showed that he didn't care for himself, those eyes looked like Batmans'. Those were the last things that Robin saw before he blacked out.

Danny spat at Robin, disgusted that the leader of the Titans couldn't even beat him using only kung fu. Not having access to any of his gear and other skills didn't mean a thing. Danny didn't use _his_ powers or other skills. Without looking back, without caring for his leg, without a change in his eyes, he limped out.

* * *

Danny was furious, even after he got back to his store. 'How dare the leader of the Titans be that weak! If you're going to play hero, then the least that you can do is be able to stand up to me in a fight! God damn it! O.K…I need to calm down…' With that thought, Danny stomped over to a bookcase and picked up the next book on his reading list, 'Fighting Your Inner Demons'. He violently opened it up, and read the first chapter: controlling yourself though meditation.

Robin was furious. He punched the sand bag in front of him. 'How'. He gave a round house kick with his right leg. 'Could'. He punched it again. 'He'. Robin unleashed a volley of punches. 'Beat me!'

After Robin calmed down, he looked at the sandbag…or what was left of it. 'Hm. We need to reinforce the chains again.'

"Robin?" Robin sighed when he heard Starfires' voice. He didn't want her to see him like this. He stepped out of the gym.

"Yes, Starfire?"

"Are you ready for the festivities of the val? You promised that you would show me the works of fire!" Robin chuckled at Starfires' strange speech patterns. It was really cute.

"Sure, Star. Just let me get out of this gi and into my costume."

"O.K! I shall go and get the rest of our friends!" Robin smiled as she floated off, glad that he could show Starfire the wonders of earth culture.

"Gerk!" Robin nearly tripped. He got back up and shook his head. He still had lapses of concentration on occasion since Danny punched him in the head.

* * *

Danny was on the roof of his store, lying down and staring at the sky, watching the lights in the sky twinkle. He remembered how he used to want to go into the sky, exploring the unknown as an astronaut. As he was staring up, he saw one star getting bigger. And bigger. And heading right towards him.

"Gah!" Danny quickly rolled up to his feet, and sprinted back inside. He quickly ran down the stairs, taking them five at a time. "Gotta get out gotta get out gotta get oouut!" When he got to the bottom he didn't even bother opening the door; instead he just phased through it. After he got out into the deserted street, he looked behind him, and saw what looked like a purple space ship still getting closer.

He kept running until he got into a nearby alleyway. He turned around just in time to watch the space ship crash into his bookstore. "Oh, come on!"

Fortunately, the roof was made of a very sturdy material (Vlad insisted), so it didn't actually cause any damage. Too the roof. Unfortunatly, he saw the entire building shake. His books were probably all over the place!

Danny waited for a couple of minutes, just to make sure that it wouldn't blow up or something. After he thought it was safe, he reentered his store and climbed back up to the roof. Now that he was closer, he realized that it looked more like a purple sphere then a purple ship; it was probably an escape pod or something.

As Danny was walking closer to inspect the pod thing, he could hear gears turning inside it. He quickly backed up a couple of steps. He didn't want to be in the way of whatever would come out. As he watched, he saw a circle kind of…peel off, leaving a hole in the pod.

As Danny watched, all he could see was a shadow start coming out. Now, while Danny couldn't make out any details, he could make out the general shape. As a teenage boy, he really couldn't complain at what he saw. He saw a humanoid shape coming out, and what with the _very_ well positioned curves that he saw, he could tell that it was a rather attractive teenage girl.

"Ahhh…It's nice to be out of that pod." The shadow said as she came out. As she came out, Danny recognized the shape and size of the shadow as Starfires'

"Oh. Great. A 'hero'. So, what can I do to get you Titans to leave me alone?"

"Titan? Oh…You must be mistaking me for my sister, Starfire." As she spoke, she came out of the shadow. She could indeed be Starfires' twin, if it weren't for the body armor and black hair and eyes. "My names Blackfire."

"Not much better in my opinion. What do you want?"

"Oh, come now. Is that any way to treat the sister of a hero?" Blackfire said with a smile.

"Yes." Normally, Danny isn't this rude to normal people. Bad for business. But this was an exception. He had dealt with Vlad plenty of times and, even though they were on better terms, he could still spot a schmoozer a mile away. And Blackfire was even worse than Vlad.

Blackfire pouted. "Oh, fine then. Could you at least point me in the direction of Titan Tower?"

"Not until you remove you pod from my roof." Danny was annoyed. She was _still_ trying to schmooze him, and he didn't like it.

Blackfire shrugged, and picked up the pod single handedly. She tossed it into the lake. She turned around with a blinding smile that Danny could easily tell was fake. When he was unimpressed, Blackfire frowned.

"Oh, come on. Isn't there anything you like?"

"Oh, something I like? Yes. I like sincerity, something which you seem to be in a lack off." It's true that he did like sincerity, but he didn't like it nearly enough to soften his usual attitude. But she didn't need to know that.

Blackfire turned around with a vicious smile. Danny smirked. "Titan Tower is the giant T, which you would know if you kept in contact with you sister." Blackfires' eyes began to glow. Dannys' smirk widened. "Now, get off my roof before I call the police.

Blackfire gave a slight snarl, and she flew off to the giant tower. Danny just shook his head. As he headed downstairs to survey the damage, he wondered how long it would take for Blackfire to tear the Titans' apart.

* * *

Starfire sat on the roof of the abandoned warehouse. All of her friends and her sister were down their doing the digging of the scene. Without shovels. Starfire sighed. Her sister was taking her place in her friends' heart, not that she could blame them.

* * *

"Gerk!" Robin shook his head. He was just looking for…something…when his head acted up again. Robin shook his head. If it was important, then he'd remember it eventually.

* * *

Starfire was sitting on the roof, digging herself into a greater depression with every passing moment. Some small part of her had hoped that somebody would find her up here, but nobody did. She was in the middle of lamenting her replacement when she was grabbed by a purple tentacle that led to a strange purple machine, just like the one from the carnival.

* * *

Beastboy was in the middle of partying when he looked up and saw Starfire being dragged away. "Guys! Star's in trouble!"

* * *

Danny sighed. His bookstore was a mess! He picked up books, one after another. He hoped this wasn't a regular occurrence in Jump. He didn't know if he had the patience to reorganize his book store every day! Danny reached for the next book when his leg acted up from earlier today. "Ow!" Danny was lying on the floor, his nose in the open book 'Fighting Your Inner Demons'. He involuntarily read the first few lines of the page it was on.

'Meditation has been proven to help in many facets of life including, but not limited to, controlling your emotions, fighting external mental intrusions, and increasing the speed of healing. Done on a daily basis, some of these effects have been shown to be permanent.'

Danny sat up and continued to read the chapter. It gave many tips on how to meditate and improving your life using it. He shrugged. He grabbed all the books that he could on meditation, and headed to the roof.

* * *

Starfire looked on the Tower forlornly. After her friends gave Blackfire admittance to the Teen Titans, she realized that they would be better off without her. They had her sister, who could everything she could, except better. She had no need to stay anymore; she was a liability. In the last two fights all that she could do was get captured.

As Starfire was flying across town, she saw a strange green glow on one of the roofs in the store district. Being the curious soul that she was, she decided to see what the source was. With any luck, it could be an effective distraction from what she was doing. Somewhere deep inside of her, she was hoping that one of her friends would find her and convince her to stop what she was doing, and a glowing beacon in the middle of the city was sure to attract attention.

When she landed, she discovered the source of the light was six or seven glowing books that floated around a floating glowing kid in a black and white jumpsuit with two identical glowing green belts wrapped around his waist... His position was very reminiscent of Raven when she meditated.

* * *

Danny was calm. Danny was relaxed. Danny had found his center. He knew that he had transformed; he didn't mean to. It had just happened. He didn't care much, though. For the first time in a long while, he felt in control. That is, until a voice interrupted him from behind.

* * *

"Um…hello?" Starfire asked with trepidation. She gasped when the figure just fell to the floor with a distracted "Ak!"

"Jesus! Don't scare me like…" Danny turned around and saw who the voice belonged to. "Oh. It's you. I'm not entirely sure if you're better or worse than your sister." Danny didn't need this. He was calm, and here a 'hero' goes interrupting him! What is with this city?

"Um…excuse me? How do you know my sister?" Starfire was confused. First he seemed like a normal teen, and as soon as he saw her, he acted just like Raven.

"Not important. So, not that I care, but why are you here and not in your giant glowing T?"

"My sister…She came to visit. And, she is better than me at the gaming and the poetry and the martial arts." Starfire didn't know why she was spilling her guts out to this stranger, but something told her that he wouldn't hurt her, despite his rude behavior. "And…she is now a Titan…in our last two fights, I was useless. I am just a liability to my friends." Danny just started laughing. These Titan's friendships were so weak! "Excuse me?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I just thought that a team of 'super hero's' would be closer than that. So they dumped you after one night? Man, you guys are worse than I thought!"

"My friends did not 'dump' me! I left on my own!"

"Ha! That's just rich. So what, you think that they'll be happy that you left?"

"Well…not happy per say…"

"Or were you just running away to feel better?" Danny, in full on mock mode, was using a voice meant for a toddler.

"I…" Starfire didn't know what to say. She didn't want to admit it, but he just broke through her logic like a sledgehammer. "But my sister replaced me!"

"Oh, so what, they just forgot about you? If so, then I can't blame you for running away. They must be horrible friends." Danny said all of the nonchalantly, but on the inside he was screaming to himself. 'Why am I helping her? I'm keeping a low profile. Low profile!'

"No! My friends would never forget about me!"

"Oh, so they just don't care about you anymore?" 'Danny, stop. This isn't your fight. This isn't your fight.'

"My friends will always care about me!"

"Your actions don't say so." 'Just walk away. Maybe she'll forget about you.'

"I was mistaken!" As Starfire realized what she said, Danny just smirked and turned his back to pick up his books.

"Now get out of here. I hate heroes." When Danny didn't hear a response, or even a liftoff, he turned around, slightly worried. His fears were verified. He saw Starfire in a glass case on an aircraft with two aliens in red armor on it, flying away.

'Come on, Danny. This isn't your problem. You're not a hero, so there's no reason to save her.'

Just as Danny was finishing that thought, he realized that he was flying at maximum speed to catch up to the ship. 'Damn! What did I just tell you? Stay. Put.'

When Danny caught up to the ship, he shot a few ecto-blasts at the alien in front. It didn't seem to have any effect. "Damn." He increased the power, but that still didn't do a thing. That armor was surprisingly tough.

'OK, if blasts won't work, then maybe a punch will.' With that thought, Danny charged at the thing…only to be caught by its green tentacles. 'Hm…this could work too.' Danny reached deep inside of him and grabbed that feeling of cold that he had. He let it out, and froze the tentacle. 'Perfect.' With a burst of strength, the tentacle shattered. Freed from his constraints, he rushed forward and hit the thing off the ship.

"Yes!" Danny's victory was short lived, however, as another tentacle wrapped around him from behind. He smirked. These guys never learned. He reached back inside to freeze him, but all he found was electricity. 'Damn. Must have used it up.' Danny was about to release his second elemental power, when he had a thought. 'You know, I bet that armor is metal.' Danny phased out of the tentacle, to the endless surprise of the one holding him, and rushed towards the second alien. As soon as he was touching the armor, he let out all of the electricity in him. It knocked him out cold.

Danny walked over to the thing that Starfire was in, phased in, and phased her out.

"Oh, thank you friend! Please, tell me…" Starfire was going to finish that with 'name', but Danny just held up a glowing hand to her.

"I am not your friend." 'It's too dangerous.'

Starfire, not knowing how to react to this, just followed Danny and flew to the ground. Followed shortly by two very upset aliens and an aircraft.

"Stop! In the name of the galactic police! You are wanted for crimes in the Tamaran system!" An armored alien said, pointing at Starfire.

"Tamaran? But I have never visited the Tamaran moons."

"Bet your sister did." Danny knew she was a schmoozer, but framing your sister for crime? That's a bit much.

Starfire saw her sister fly away. "You are not getting away!" She quickly flew after her.

"Stop!" Apparently, the aliens didn't get that Starfire was innocent.

"Look. Give her ten minutes, top. She'll return with your girl." The aliens looked at each other and nodded. They sat on their spacecraft.

"Very well. Ten minutes. But if she is late, it will be on your head."

Danny just rolled his eyes. As he turned around, intending to fly home, he instead saw the Teen Titans.

"Titans, go!" Robin yelled.

Danny, using his best Robin impersonation, shouted, "Titans, stop!" He didn't want to interrupt them, but this was Starfires' fight. They all stopped, more in surprise than anything else, and looked at the new player in front of them.

Cyborg recognized him instantly. "Hey, you! It's payback time!" Danny just rolled his eyes.

Raven looked the glowing teen up and down. He felt remarkable similar to the kid in the book store, except his self loathing was a lot stronger. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"I'm here because Starfires so called 'friends' made her feel replaced by her sister. Who happens to be a liar and a criminal and is currently trying to frame Starfire for her crimes."

"You. Shut up." Cyborg was, once again, furious. When he first meet this kid, he lectured him on being a hero, and now, he doubted their teams friendships! He charged at this strange kid, fully intending to tear him apart.

Danny just rolled his eyes. "Heroes." He didn't even bother to move. He made himself intangible, and just as Cyborg was near him, went into his mechanical arm and pulled out some random wires. When Cyborg turned around, he saw Danny holding some wires. "I wonder what these did?" Cyborgs' arm went limp. "Hm."

"Dude!" Beast boy didn't know the full story behind what happened, but he knew that pulling out random wires in a computer is not a good idea. "Not cool!"

"Oh? And what is cool? Going easy on him when every other villain out there won't? Is that cool to you?" Danny lost it. He hated heroes, and now he was going to show them why. "You're weak. You don't know the consequences of what you do. And you all live in an idyllic world. 'Cool' or not, it doesn't matter. This is the real world. And in the real world, you are weak."

Robin heard this guys dislike of hero's from Cyborg, but experiencing it first hand was something else. He charged forward, staff at the ready, fully prepared to split this guy's head open.

Danny saw what was happening. He just frowned. He grabbed the staff out of mid air with a single hand and broke it. He spoke softly, so that only Robin could hear. "This is why you are kids. In the real world, fights don't get easier because you throw a little temper tantrum."

He spoke up. "My name is Danny Phantom. I played hero and I payed the price. And unless you guys wise up, you will too." With that, Danny zoomed off in a random direction before turning invisible and heading back to his room.

Robin stood up, a frown etched on his face. "Cyborg."

"Yah?"

"Get everything you can on this 'Danny Phantom.'"


	4. Teamwork

**A/N: Bonus points to my buddy Nazran for guessing the name of Danny's belts! Drkphoenyx, all is forgiven. Now, there are some things that I would like to clarify about the future of this the story. The first is that Danny is **_**not**_**, I repeat **_**not**_** a bad guy. He's just a jerky guy. And as for the questions about when this or that will happen, my answer is that I honestly don't know. This story is progressing faster than I thought it would, but at the same time slower. So both you and I will have to wait for the next chapter to find out what happens next. On that note, reviews encourage and invigorate me. I will not hold my story for ransom, but the more reviews I get the faster I will work. Chao!**

**Also, one line indicates change of perspective, two lines indicate change in time and/or a change of perspective.**

Teamwork

"_You want my credit card? What for?" Vlad knew that Danny wasn't interested in money, so he had a hard time figuring the teen out._

"_I want to start a bookstore, full of arcane books that I can study. I fully intend to pay you back."_

"_Hmmm…very well. However, I have three stipulations."_

"_What are they?"_

"_The first is that you give me your midmorph DNA, so that I can make a perfect son."_

"_No." Danny wanted the credit card, but he was not going to fuel Vlad's obsession with him._

"_But…Danny…I need a child, an heir! And seeing as you clearly aren't interested in being it, I need to create one."_

"_You already had a child, a child who loved you, and you didn't care for her, so you lost her. You had all these chances, but you messed them up. Nobody else."_

_Vlad looked like he had been slapped, while Danny didn't look at all different. He mulled over what he told him, thinking it through…_

* * *

Robin was annoyed. And tired. But mostly annoyed. Four days ago, they had last met Phantom. Three days ago, Starfire and Cyborg argued on whether he was good or bad. Two days ago, Cyborg told him that the data trail was cold. He could not get information of Phantom from the internet. One day ago, he called all of his contacts to get everything he could on Phantom. Today, he only got one thing from all of his contacts: a single newspaper clipped.

* * *

'Hero' Danny Phantom Kills Six

Today, in the little town of Amity Park, resident of the used to be hero Danny Phantom, experienced tragedy today. After a series of ghost attacks, each one stronger then the last, a menacing adult figure that looked like Danny Phantom (some believe this to be his father) tied up Sam Manson, Tucker Folley, Mr. Lancer, Maddie, Jack, and Jasmine Fenton to the unstable boiler of the local Nasty Burger. Soon after, the younger Danny Phantom appeared, and a fight of epic proportions took place. After a long and arduous fight against a clearly superior opponent, Danny Phantom came out on top. However, right after he won, he turned to the boiler and shot it himself, causing an explosion that killed the six individuals tied to it and orphaned young Danny Fenton. Afterward, perhaps because of Danny Phantoms change in temperament, all ghost attacks ceased. Long time fan, Paulina Sanchez, claims that this all a big misunderstanding and that Phantom is, in fact, a hero.

The fate of the young Danny Fenton is largely unknown. All that is known is that he was official adopted by long time friend of the family, Vlad Masters. Afterwards, he seems to have disappeared off the face of the world. Mr. Masters was unavailable to comment.

* * *

Robin was _very_ annoyed. He had so many conflicting reports that he didn't know what to think. Starfire said he saved her. Cyborg said he baited him. This clipping said he killed six! Robin didn't know what to think. He needed to clear his head.

As Robin left his room, he saw Starfire in the hallway. He smiled. They were having a fun time talking until they entered the living room and saw Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven arguing about the T.V. remote. Robin could tell this was going to be a long day.

* * *

Finally! Sunday! Danny leaned back in his chair. After his confrontation with the Titans four days ago he was really upset. He didn't get how they could create a 'super team'. Phe. How dare they claim the title of 'hero' when they attack somebody who just insulted them and their teamwork? If they did that every time, then the male teenager populace would suddenly plummet. He had to continue with his meditation just to keep his anger under control, and even then just barely. He eventually discovered a mantra that really helped him calm down. "Azarath metrion zinthos." He didn't know why, but just chanting those words helped calm him down.

Danny was deep in thought when his stomach growled. Despite the fact that the store was closed for the day, he blushed. He was decided to go out for pizza. After all, even depressed super teens can't say no to pizza.

* * *

Ah, pizza. Danny was slightly less sad then usual as he climbed on up. That changed, however, when he saw the Teen Titans sitting around a table, reading a menu. He resolved to not get involved in some inane super fight today. He had enough of those four days ago. He turned around and was about to leave when someone called out his name.

* * *

Robin was sitting down when he caught sight of a familiar black head of hair. That was Danny, the kid who beat him! Robin was not one to let a lost fight keep him down, however. He wanted to see what he was really capable of. And, with any luck, kick his butt in exchange for the concussion he got the other day. Besides, he's been following leads for the last four days. He needed a break, and a good fight might be just the key to clearing his head.

"Hey, Danny!" Danny pretended he didn't hear a thing and continued to walk away. He didn't fool Raven, though. She could feel his annoyance. She instantly recognized his unique repressed emotions from the bookstore. She decided, despite her better judgment, that she was curious enough to intervene. She summoned a black wall in front of the exit.

Danny was annoyed. Why was it that every time he beginning to feel calm, these stupid 'hero's' intervened! He took a couple of deep breaths. "Azarath metrion zinthos." He didn't notice Raven raising an eyebrow as she overheard him. "What," he said in a curt voice.

"I was just wondering if you would like to join us for pizza." At the looks from the other members of his team, he explained. "He was the one that faced me in the kung-fu exhibition."

"Really?" Beast Boy asked, over eager as always. "How long did he last?"

"Now, now B.B." The half mechanical Titan said. "It's not polite to ask for the details of someone's defeat." Robin looked away, nervously. He didn't think this through enough to realize that if Danny did join them, the tale of his defeat would be known to his team mates.

Robin looked a Raven and with a motion of his hand, singled her to cut off the wall. "If you don't want to join us, Danny, you don't have to."

Danny suppressed a chuckle. So, the 'hero' leader of a 'hero' team didn't tell his friends what happened four days ago? If he did this right, this could be hilarious. "Actually, I think I will join you. After all, how often does a 'normal' kid like me get to eat with 'heroes' like you?" Only Raven heard the slight inflections in his speech. She decided to not pursue it…yet.

As Danny was walking to the table, Robin sweat dropped. Danny allowed a slight smirk to cover his face, tilting his head in such a way that only Robin could see it. This was going to be an… interesting meal.

* * *

Robin was worried. Just four days after Phantom insulted their teamwork, Danny showed up, and he clearly wasn't going to let him live this down. Robin internally cursed his shortsightedness. This was going to be an… interesting meal.

* * *

Danny sat down and asked, "So. What are we having?"

Cyborg immediately took the initiative. "We're having the all meat experience!"

Beast Boy cut in, "Uh, no. We're having tofu. No meat."

"Come on, man! You can't deny me the human necessity of meat!"

"Dude! I've been most of those animals!"

Danny put his head in his hands, and rubbed his temples. This conversation was hitting a _very_ sour spot in Danny. He didn't want to be reminded of Sam and Tucker. Not here. Not now. Not by, phe, 'heroes'. He decided to take thing into his own hands.

"Look. I'll pay for an extra pizza if you two just. Shut. Up." The two Titans heard the dangerous edge in his voice and, even though they didn't believe he could do anything to them, decided it was not a good idea to aggravate someone needlessly. Especially if he was willing to pay for pizza.

Raven was impressed. Those two normally went on for _at least_ ten minutes. That, and she could feel the boiling sadness, disguised as anger, boiling up inside of him. She was glad that his wall didn't break down; she didn't know what those two red eyes that she faced in the bookstore were, but she did _not _want to find out.

After the awkward silence that followed Dannys' angry declaration, conversation slowly picked up again. The two more astute members of the group, Robin and Raven, noticed that Danny didn't say any more words then was necessary; he skillfully deflected conversation from him to the other five teens at the table. Then the pizza arrived. And things went downhill very quickly.

After Beast Boy finished up his first slice of his meatless pizza, which Cyborg eyed in disgust, he triggered what would be remembered as a very interesting conversation. "So, how long _did_ it take for you to lose?"

Robin sputtered out the drink that he was sipping. "Come now, Beast Boy. Surly Danny doesn't want to tell us about the fight." Raven could feel he was nervous and decided to pay a bit more attention to the next few minutes.

"Oh no, Robin, it's just fine. I'd be glad to tell Beast Boy just how long the fight lasted."

"Oh, I don't really think that is necessary…"

"I insist."

"No, really. We came here to relax, not to talk about fights."

Danny smirked. "Well, why don't we let the rest of your little team voice their opinions?"

"Really, I don't think…"

"Come on, Robin, we just wanna hear a little story." Cyborg said. He could tell something was up, and he wanted to know what.

"Yes! Please tell us about the whopping of the posterior!"

"Come on, dude! If Danny wants to tell us, I think we should let him!"

Robin turned to Raven in desperation. "What do you think, Raven?"

"I don't care."

Beast boy jumped on this chance. Figuratively, not literally. "Well, if nobody cares, then let's hear what happened."

Danny gave a feral smile. "My pleasure." Robins' head dropped onto the table. He doubted that he would hear this down. "Now, the first thing that you must understand, is that we both were told to use only Kung Fu. So, we both were under a major disadvantage."

As Danny started the story, he very skillfully managed to tell the tale of their fight without once mentioning a name. He quickly had everyone's, even Ravens', attention. He managed to keep them entertained for a good half hour.

"By now, we had both given as good as we got. One of us had the upper hand, so the other decided to do an incredibly dangerous move to win. He was running forward, committing his muscles to a round house kick. However, at the last minute, he pushed all of his momentum to the opposite direction." Cyborg raised his eyebrows. That _was_ an incredibly dangerous move. Muscles were not supposed to do that. "He rolled around, and just one minute after the start, I knocked out Robin in one punch."

Danny smirked as Robin hid his face, leaning back, and waited for the explosion to start.

The effect was instantaneous. There were mixed reactions across the table. Robin was embarrassed, Beast Boy was impressed, Starfire was confused, and Raven and Cyborg were both quiet, processing the information.

Starfire, who did not believe that Robin could lose, said, "I demand a rematch! Robin would not have lost in a fair fight!"

Everybody picked up at that. Except Danny, who was staring at Starfire distastefully. 'Blind trust in anybody, especially a hero, will lead to betrayal.' He decided to prove to her that their 'perfect leader' was not, in fact, perfect.

"Fine." Everybody licked that. "However, I demand that certain rules will be in place."

Cyborg didn't like the sound of that. "What kind of rules?"

"Just a few. Fists only. No tools, and no body armor. The first one to get knocked out loses. Also, this will _not_ be public."

"To the knock out? Isn't that bit extreme in a friendly fight?" Danny slowly tuned to stare at Cyborg, staring him straight in the eyes with such intensity that Cyborg forgot for a second that he was the super teen.

"There is no such thing as a friendly fight." Danny got up and walked off. "Come get me at my store when you're ready. Raven knows the way."

* * *

Robin wondered at that intensity. No normal human could put so much intent behind a glare. Batman could, and so could he and Cyborg. What had Danny gone though?

Meanwhile, Raven also wondered about the enigmatic teen. With that glare, she had expected Danny to emanate raw anger. Instead, she felt less emotion then she ever had from a human, as if there was a terrible finality in that statement. She shook her head. Danny made no sense.

* * *

On a nearby roof, a pintsized human spoke into a receiver; "The scuzz buckets are finally alone! Let's show these snots what Hive Academies' A Team can do!

* * *

"Grah!" Danny punched a wall in his lab. He was, to say the least, upset. He was upset because the Teen Titans didn't get what it meant to be a hero. He was upset because he nearly lost control of himself. But he was most upset that he agreed to fight Robin again. What kind of idiot was he? He had to stay OUT of the hero scene! He learned that after his venture into the land of heroics. Danny breathed in, then out. In, then out. Danny sighed. He had work to do

* * *

"Ok…done." Danny said, as he finally finished up his new ecto-gun. It was supposed to drain ecto energy and store into a battery, to be latter released as a destructive beam. He fed some of his energy into it and aimed at one of the targets. He steadied his hand, and positioned himself so that he would be ready for any kickback that he might experience. He pulled the trigger, and…

*BOOM!*

Danny coughed as he made his way upstairs. "Damn it! Another failure!" He punched his hands on the desk. He needed to discover the secret to ectoplasmic energy! He had too! Danny sighed, realizing that he was in no position to continue his research. His emotions were jumping all over the place. He transformed into a ghost and phased through the ceiling, intending to meditate on the roof.

* * *

"So, that's your plan?" Raven asked, clearly showing that she didn't approve. "You do realize that to get them to roof, they need to be distracted, right?"

"Yes." Robin said with confidence. "Cyborg, did you complete the upgrades to the tower?"

"Why do you want to… oooh, I see where you're going. No, I didn't."

"What! You said that it would be done yesterday!"

"Well, yah, until _someone _told me to go research a dead-end trail!"

"Great. Just great."

"What seems to be the problem, friend Robin?" Starfire was watching her two friends argue, and she didn't know what to do.

"Like Raven said, we need to distract that team of super villains. I was planning on using Cyborgs' upgrade to cause C.D.'s to fly, doors to open and close, and to just generally freak them out. Without Cyborgs' upgrade, we have no way to do that."

Starfire was thinking. She remembered how not-friend Phantom could move things with his mind when he was meditating. She also remembered how much her friends disliked him. "I…think that I know someone who could help… but I do not think that you would like it…"

"Starfire," Robin said, staring at her, "We need to get our tower back. Who can help us?"

"…"

"Star. Tell us who he is."

"…Not-friend Phantom."

* * *

Danny was relaxing, floating on the roof of his store. "Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos." That is, until a meek voice spoke up behind him.

"Not-friend Phantom?"

Seeing as the interruption was not sudden or loud, Danny did not fall over like last time. Instead he just turned his body all around and opened an eye, showing a glowing green, like his belt. "What do you want?"

Starfire was unusually shy as she stood in front of him. "Well, my friends… the Titans… we could use your help…"

"No." He closed his eye and tuned back around.

"But we really need your help!"

"And I don't care."

"But you could save the Tower!"

"And, once again, I don't care."

"But you're a good guy!" Danny zoomed to her, both of his angry eyes open.

"I am not a good guy. That is the first thing you gotta learn."

"But you saved me!"

"And next time, I might be the one to put you in danger!"

"No! You are a hero!"

Dannys' eyes flashed red. "The first rule of heroes is that there are no heroes. There are only kids and villains." Danny took a deep breath. "If I do what you ask, will you leave me alone?"

Starfire looked sad. "If that is what you want, then I will honor your request, not-friend Phantom."

"Good. What do you need?"

* * *

Robin shook his head. He didn't like this. He didn't want to trust an unknown. He didn't like leaving Starfire alone with him… it… whatever. He didn't like powerful unknowns. What were his intentions? What did he want? What was he? Robin sighed, not knowing what to do, when he saw Starfire flying back to them. As she came closer, it became clearer and clearer that she was sad.

"Starfire! What happened?"

"Not-friend Phantom agreed."

Cyborg, ever the astute one, asked, "What's the catch?"

Starfire sighed. "That I leave him alone."

Nobody knew what to say to that. They knew she had an affinity to this Phantom, though they didn't know why, so in that since they were sad for her. However, they all were glad that she wouldn't be seeing him again; his hatred of heroes could not be healthy for her.

Raven cut through the silence, not wanting this chance to use Phantoms' powers to slip by them. "When are we executing the plan?"

Starfire responded. "One hour. He needs one hour to master his power. It seems to be new to him."

The Titans' were silent at this. When they met him, and from what Starfire told them, he was already more powerful than any one of them. The fact that he was still growing frightened them. This time, Robin was the one to speak.

"Titans, get ready. At ten, we take back our tower."

* * *

Danny meditated in his store. "Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos!" With that last word, books started fly all around, in a chaotic manner. 'I'm ready'.

Danny was in the middle of the living room in Titan Tower, breathing in and out, in and out, in and out. "Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos. Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos. Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos." The clock struck ten. "Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos!" CDs were flying everywhere, doors were opening and closing, and the coach even flew around a bit. 'This is the only time I'm doing this. The Titans better not disappoint me.'

He was not disappointed. Raven and Starfire took out Jinx and Gizmo, while Beast Boy took out Mammoth. Dannys' work was done. He flew back to his store, transformed back, and went to sleep.

* * *

Robin picked up Gizmo and stared at his face. "Who is Slade?"


	5. Play Time

**A/N: And… viola! Another day, another chapter. Thank you for all of your reviews! I'd be lying if I said that I don't want more, but I do really appreciate the ones I got. Now, Galacta, I don't know when, or even if Danny will get better. If that is a breaking point for you, then I say with great sadness that this story might not be the one for you. It pains me to say that, but this Danny will always be a bit distant, even after he gets better. It won't be like, 'Oh! I've been stupid! I'll be all better now!' Exaggerated, I know, but still.  
As another note, I put up a poll on my profile. I want to know if you guys think that I should get a beta reader. The updates won't be as fast, and I can't guarantee that the story will change much, (I'm very stubborn when it comes to my stories) but with any luck it would improve the story. So; read, review and vote!  
-Shy Shay**

Play Time

"_Danny, I know that you have been through a difficult time…"_

"_Difficult? Difficult? Ha! This isn't difficult! It's impossible!"_

"_Danny, I need you to listen…"_

"_Why should I listen to you? What have you ever done that is good for anybody but you?"_

"_I put on that specter deflector." Danny was quite at this. Vlad was right, loath as he was to admit._

"_I'll listen."_

"_Danny, you have been through a difficult time. I will not ask you to live with me. All I ask is to be your legal guardian…"_

"_Like hell!"_

"_So that you won't have the government breathing down your back. You can have and do anything you want. I will take care of the legalities."_

_Danny was thoughtful for a few minutes. What did he want?_

"_I want your credit card."_

* * *

Danny looked over his bookstore from behind his counter, a sad look on his face. It had been three days since he told Starfire to leave him alone, and her sad face still bothered him. 'Shake it off, Danny! It's for the best.' He looked at the green belts he was wearing. 'This way, she… and I… won't get hurt.' He shook his head. 'Shake it off, Danny! Just shake it off.' He sighed as he looked up…just in time to see a rather full bust. 'Oh, great. Just what I didn't need. Her.'

"Hey, Danny. I was wondering if you reconsidered my offer." The girl that he was talking to was, obviously, a goth. She had long, straight black hair that reached down to just above the chest area which, as was already mentioned, was rather plentiful. Her clothing was rather form fitting. She had on a black corset, which was covered by a thin black dress that barely covered it and went down to her knees. She also had long black fingerless gloves on, and combat boots that were very similar to Sam's'. Her face was like an angle from hell, with heavy black and purple makeup accentuating her pale face perfectly. Her name was Donna.

"I did."

Donna waited for a moment. "…Well?"

"I decided to decline. Again."

"Oh, Danny, come on." She said as she pouted. "You would be the perfect person to run our group! You know about everything in this store!"

"My decision remains unchanged."

"You know, if you do this for me, I could… well… return the favor." She said as she jiggled her chest in a very… convincing manner. Danny sighed.

"For the tenth time, Donna, I will not run your group."

"Oh, come now. You know you want to see what's beyond the mundane." She now squished the bust on the counter. A lesser man would have folded. And by lesser man, I mean anybody attracted to the female goth populace that wasn't Danny.

"Donna. Did you come here to flirt or do you actually want to buy something?"

Donna frowned a bit. "Oh, you're no fun. I'd like this book," she said as she held out "Theories on the Phantasm Sector."

Danny bit back a smile. He made sure that everything in the bookstore was relatively accurate (as accurate as you can with myths) except on ghosts. Every accurate book on ghost he got immediately went into his lab. "That'll be twenty dollars."

Donna smiled as she put down a twenty dollar bill. She put her mouth next to his ear. "I'll be back." She minced off, making sure that Danny had a good look at his posterior. When she was at the exit, she turned her head to look at him, winked, and then proceeded to walk off.

Danny shook his head. He had sworn off all close personal relationships ten months ago. Unfortunately, this city seemed to challenge every comfort zone he had, from heroes to romance. In the past four months, he had been approached by countless girls and more than a few guys. Apparently his skin tight black shirt that he wore didn't help. He _had_ picked up more than a few muscles since he got his powers, and a skin tight shirt plus a six pack did not drive the girls away. Donna was just the most persistent and, unfortunately, the most attractive of the girls that joined his fan club. He wondered when they would get the hint. As he mused on his fate, he heard the bell door jingle.

* * *

It had only been two days since the team got its' tower back, and Raven was already annoyed with them. She needed a break and decided to go back to the new bookstore, despite the annoying owner. After all, she still needed to read that book.

She reached the store in time to see a goth turn around and wink at Danny. She raised an eyebrow. When she entered, she gave Danny a questioning look.

"Fangirl."

"Ah. Where's 'Trigon the Terrible'?"

"Same place it was last."

Raven, having gotten all that she needed out of Danny, just gave a slight nod before going to get the book. She grabbed it and then sat down in the most out of place chair that she could find. She settled in and began to read it from the beginning.

Meanwhile, Danny was doing his best to not let Ravens' presence annoy him. He reached under the desk and started reading his next book; "Forces of Nature". Danny resolved to read the whole thing beginning to end, regardless of how silly it might seem. And indeed, it was very silly. It talked about how the forces of thunder and lightning were, in fact, personified as super teens. Danny got to the next chapter. It talked about how if these two teens took part in a very complicated ritual, then they could create a giant fire beast. The only way to stop it is if Thunder and Lightning worked together to create a rain storm.

Danny snorted. This was ridiculous! There was no way that this was true! He closed the book and debated on whether to put it on sale or not. It was ridiculous, but nothing he has read contradicted it. At least, nothing reliable. He closed the book and stared at the cover.

"Excuse me."

The cover was old and tattered, so it wasn't made recently. That added credence to its tale.

"Excuse me."

It could be real… Danny sighed. He needed to double check with someone else.

"Excuse. Me."

"Huh? What?" Danny looked up into the eyes of Raven, who could feel his annoyance. Not that she cared much, as she was pretty annoyed herself.

"I was wondering where you got this book," Raven said as she put down 'Trigon the Terrible'.

"Oh. I don't remember."

"You must keep a record of all transactions. I need to know where this book came from."

"Why? Because you're a 'hero'?" Danny knew that that was uncalled for, but his patience was wearing very thin. He didn't like meeting the Titans every other day and dealing with fangirls the rest of the time. He just wanted all of this madness to end.

Raven was shocked, though she didn't show it. He came off as cool and collected, but that was completely uncalled for. She had dealt with people who weren't fans of her and the Titans before, but she had never met someone with that much contempt and disbelief in those that fight villains. She decided that it was worth it to show her annoyance.

"No." She said in a curt voice. "I just need to know."

Danny eyed her calmly. He sighed. "Ok, look. Give this book a quick skim and tell me what you think. If you do, I should be able to tell you where I got the book by the end of the day." He said, as he handed her 'Forces of Nature'. He normally wouldn't have given in that easily, but he was feeling guilty.

Raven raised her eyebrow. He wasn't expected him to just conceded after that little confrontation. She picked up the book and gave it a quick skim. "I have not read anything that said this, though it is feasible."

Danny sighed again. He was doing that a lot lately. "Ok, thanks. If you come by later I'll tell where I got the book from. Assuming, that is, that it isn't confidential _and _that it is in my records. No promises."

Raven nodded her head, put the book back on the shelf, and proceeded to walk home. She put her hood back up because of the heavy rain clouds in the sky. As indifferent as she seemed to the world even she did not want to get wet.

Danny looked outside and saw rainclouds gathering. He did not want to get caught in that rain and he was certain that his customers didn't want to, either. He stood up to make a short announcement.

"It looks like it is going to start raining soon, so if you don't want to get wet get out now." Danny knew that normal stores did not make such announcements, but his store was very community based. It was what made him different from the other stores, and he needed that difference.

Danny surveyed his store, watching everybody file out. A few nodded to him in appreciation, a few personally went up to thank him, and a few bought their books. But they all filed out.

Danny walked up to the door, changed the sign to closed, and locked the door. He headed up to look at his written archives.

As he was walking up stairs, thunder started playing in the background. And as the thunder played, a sole man with a black and orange mask with a single eye snuck into the store and took the book that Danny left on the counter. "Perfect."

* * *

"Did I… do something wrong?" Starfire asked as she was splattered with oil. "This is… punishment?"

"No, Star! It was meant for Cyborg!" Beast Boy, the originator of this stunt, flustered.

"Oho! You're in trouble now!" Cooed the intended recipient.

"Oh… I see…" Starfire said. She was still upset from her latest encounter with Phantom, so she did not react as she normally would; with anger. "This was… meant to be a joke?"

"Yes! It was meant for laughs." Beast Boy sighed in relief. He was expecting an explosion.

"This… is not funny." Starfire said quietly. "I will go clean up now."

The rest of the Titans just stared at her, completely surprised. They all knew each other very well. Not completely, but mighty close. As such, Raven, Cyborg and Beast Boy were all surprised at Starfires response. She was the energetic one of the group, never letting a bad thing keep her down for more than a second; Beast Boy knew he had gone too far. "Uh, I think I'll go apologize."

Robin came out from the shadows. "No time. Titans, trouble!"

* * *

Danny rubbed his eyes as he looked through his recodes. He had already gone through it three times, but he still could not find a record about 'Trigon the Terrible'. It just didn't make sense. Every week, after shop closes on Saturday, he goes through his computer and writes down where he got every book. After that, he deleted the data. A lot of these books were very valuable, and his clients were very private, and he found computers easier to hack then a safe. If he got it, there would be a paper record here. He yawned, and began to look through it a fourth time.

As he sorted, he began to think. Why was he going through so much for a hero? Was it because she looked like Sam? No, that couldn't be it. That only upset him. It could be because she was cute. But, no, that couldn't be it. Donna was much cuter, and she practically threw herself on him. Danny reviewed his scant few meetings with her. There was a certain finality in how she walked, as if her days were numbered. She was similar.

Danny violently shook his head. No! No! He could _not_ get close in any sense of the word to anybody! Danny finished this go through and put his files back. He headed back downstairs to overlook his store.

* * *

"Hey, Raven, are you sure Danny can help us?" Robin asked as Raven flew towards Dannys' shop.

"Yes. He had a book that described Thunder and Lightning. He's the best bet we've got."

When they landed, they were faced with a closed, locked door. Robin read the name of the store. 'Fenton Works Book Store? Why does that sound familiar?'

"Come on, Raven. We really need to get going."

Raven, undeterred, phased them through the front door. Danny was relaxing, reading a book on ancient curses and their counters, behind the counter. He was momentarily surprised when the two teens entered, but he quickly masked it. "Robin and Raven. What do you two want?"

Raven cut through all the small talk and stormed up to the desk. "That book you wanted me to read. Where is it?"

Danny pointed to a spot on his counter. "It should be right," he noticed that the counter was surprisingly empty. "There…?"

Raven stared at him, sensing his confusion. "We need that book. Where could it be?"

Danny recognized that no nonsense voice and instantly straitened up. "Ok. You two check out the shelves and the tables. I'll check in my book stores." Danny didn't like helping heroes, but he knew that getting in the way would just make things worse. He ran downstairs to check on the books that he deemed unreliable.

Meanwhile, Robin and Raven were making a mess of the store. After they checked on and under all of the tables, they tossed books off of the bookshelves. When they couldn't find it, they checked behind the counter and rechecked the books on the ground. They both hoped that Danny had more luck.

Danny did not. He simply couldn't find it. He checked and double checked and triple checked. It wasn't there. He quickly headed back upstairs. "Did you two find it?" He saw them looking at the books on the ground. Danny quickly repressed his irritation at finding his store in such a mess. "I take it that you did not. What do you need it for, anyway?"

Raven, without turning, answered Dannys' questions. "The book was accurate. Thunder and Lightning are real; they're attacking the city. We need to know how to beat them."

Danny sighed. "I read the entirety of that book, and the simple answer is that you can't." Robin and Raven stood up and stared at him. Robin spook in the silence.

"What do you mean, we can't?"

"Just that. Those two are forces of nature, whose only goal is to have fun. If you can't convince them to stop, then just hope that they don't…"

Danny heard some noises from a hill that was relatively far away. He saw a flame monster rise up.

"…do that. Hell. Ok, look. You can't beat that monster, but you can slow it down. You're only hope is to convince both Thunder_ and_ Lightning to make a rainstorm to put it out. If you can't, that thing will burn everything on the continent, and keep burning, until those two put it out. You have to hurry, and hope that you have a convincing person on your team. Otherwise, the city is doomed."

Raven and Robin nodded to each other, phased out of the door, and proceeded to get to the hill as quickly as they could.

Danny shook his head and began to reorganize his books. Heroes were bad, but Thunder and Lightning were worse.

* * *

Robin flopped back on the Titan's coach. After a rough battle, Beast Boy managed to convince those two that just because it's fun, doesn't mean it's right. Starfire was in a better mood, too. Though she wasn't back to her usual self, she was better. As he sat, his mind drifted back to his fight with Slade. Slade… why did he want to destroy the city? Why did he use Thunder and Lightning? What was his goal?

As he was thinking of Slade, he mind went to how he used Thunder and Lightning. He thought about how stupid those too were. His mind made a connection.

Phantom seemed to think of the Titans as the Titans thought of Thunder and Lighting. As he was thinking about this, he suddenly bolted up. 'Now I remember! I heard Fenton from the news article! He is Danny Fenton!' All thoughts about Slade gone, Robin thought about what to do about this new discovery.

* * *

Slade was sitting in his hidden base, thinking about what to do. "Hmm… Robin is not as… occupied with me as I would like. Something else is distracting him. I guess I'll just have too… kick it up a notch."


	6. The Humanity of the Inhuman

A/N: Yes, I'm back. Sorry for the lack of updates for... ehehehe... four months... sorry. School and homework and such kinda causes a delay. But I appreciate the constant strem of updaes! Really! I love you all!  
So, yeah, I'm sorry.  
But now I've updated! This chapter is a bit shorter and reads a lot faster then the others. Trust me, I'm as surprised as you. It's just how it came out.  
If any of my lovely readers like gender bending, check out a forum I recently joined, . Go to the comunity and click on forums. Just so you all know, I'm usually on it, so shoot me a PM. That, and that is probably the best way to get to me.  
I also decided, after reading my older chapters, that I need a beta reader. Or want one. Same diffrence. So, if anybody _wants _to be my beta reader, just let me know, okay?  
-Shy Shay

The Humanity of the Inhuman

_Danny jolted awake. He was in a hospital bed, though a quick look around told him that he was in Vlad's mansion. The most noticeable evidence of this is that Vlad was sitting to the side of him._

"_Vlad! What are you-"_

_Vlad cut him off._

"_Danny, calm down._

"_Calm down? Calm down?"_

"_Danny, please..."_

"_Shut up, Vlad!"_

* * *

Slade, in his liar, watches the Titan's play football when Cyborg suddenly freezed up.

"Hmmm... this is the perfect opportunity to get back into Robin's mind..." He thinks on his thrown. "...Send out Mumbo to the junk yard." He sits back. No... that wasn't enough. "And send a platoon of Slade-bots to a couple of jewelry stores." Yes... that should get Robin's attention nicely.

* * *

Danny was in the local gym, training by lifting weights. He managed to ignore all of the girls staring at him through a sheer force of will. Well. Until Donna came up.

"Heya, Danny. See you're working out."

Danny grunts as he continues to exercise, ignoring her.

"You seem so strong... would you mind showing me what you can do?"

Danny continues to ignore her.

"Oh, Danny~ Playing hard to get just makes me want you more~"

Danny gasps as a small blue wisp of air left his mouth.

"...Danny? What was that?"

Danny, still ignoring her, puts down the weights and runs to the changing room to... 'change'.

* * *

This was not Robin's day.

It started out fine. It was the first Sunday after he realized that Danny was Danny Fenton, and he was still trying to figure out what do about it when Starfire barged into his room.

* * *

"Friend Robin! You have done enough of the mopping around."

Robin chuckled. "It's 'moping around', Star."

"You have done enough of that, to! It is time for the earth tradition of bonding over food in the sun!"

"...do you mean a picnic?"

"Yes!"

"Star, today really isn't the day. I'm busy and following up leads, not to mention-"

Before he could finish, he finds himself being dragged out of the tower. He decided that he might as well enjoy himself... a single day off couldn't be that bad.

* * *

Then Cyborg, with a dead battery cell, showed up in the fight against Mumbo!

"Cy, get out of here!"

"No way, man! I'm here to kick some villain booty!"

* * *

Danny is flying across the city, trying to locate the source of the ghost.

'A ghost? Here? They all promised that they'd stay in the ghost zone! Why is one here?'

He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. "Azarath, Mentrion, Zinthos."

'I know I shouldn't interfere, but ghost's are MY domain, and I'm not gonna have the Titan's trample all over it!'

He took some more deep breaths. "Azarath, Mentrion, Zinthos. Azarath, Mentrion, Zinthos. Azarath, Mentrion, Zinthos."

'That's better. Now, whoever this ghost is, it's gonna regret making me come out to kick its butt! It's going DOWN!'

* * *

Robin dodges another of Mumbo's inane and insane attacks. 'How does he do this?' When he catches sight of Phantom flying in. Cyborg's battery dies in a garbage truck and falls down a hole, unnoticed.

* * *

Danny idly observes Cyborg go down a hole in the junkyard. 'Heh, serves him right. Now where's that ghost?' He spots sight of the rest of the Titan's fighting the blue Mumbo Jumbo. 'Hmm... the ghost energy appears to be coming from him... as much as I abhor the Titan's, I better interfere.'

* * *

Starfire watches Danny Phantom fly down into the middle of a fight. She squeals "Not-Friend Phantom!" She rushes toward him... until he raises a hand.

"Remember your promise." She sighs dejectedly as she floats backwards. He then turns to Mumbo. "Hmmm... you're not a ghost..." He closes his eyes to focus.

"Mumbo Jumbo!" Mumbo waves his wand, and attempts to poof a pile of junk on top of Danny. He just phases through it.

"Ah, that's it." He opens his eyes and stares at Mumbo, his intense eyes glaring at him.

* * *

Raven watches the scene with some interest 'Glad that he remembers what Star promised him... but still, Mumbo, a ghost? Fool, maybe, but no ghost.' Her eye's widen. 'Wait... could it be...?'

* * *

Starfire sighs as she is told to back off. Not-Friend Phantom was, despite his title, a good friend. Why did he push her away so? Why did he push them all away so?

* * *

Robin stares, bewildered, at the unfolding scene. Danny claimed that he hated hero's, and yet here he is, fighting villainy. And this talk of Mumbo being a ghost's... just what was going on? Why did Danny seem so in control of the situation, while all five of the Titan's weren't?

* * *

Danny suddenly zooms at Mumbo.

"Guah! Hocus Pocus!" After a poof of smoke, he disappears.. and Danny follows him as he flies into it. For a second he is in an entirely green zone, and then he reappears right behind Mumbo, who is on top of a garbage heap. With a simple punch, Mumbo flies off of it, dropping his wand. Danny easily scooped it up and snapped it in half, breaking Mumbo's spell.

"There. You shouldn't play around with ghostly artifacts."

With that, he simply disappeared, flying back to his shop.

* * *

Robin walks up to Mumbo, an angry scowl on his face. Phantom managed to beat him in under a minute, whereas he has, in the past, managed to keep the Titan's busy for over half an hour! He quickly cuffed him and called it in.

Then his communicator beeped, informing him of another emergency. "Titan's, go!"

* * *

Danny was relaxing in his closed shop, sipping some herbal tea. He felt rather good after beating Mumbo like that, when it was clear that the Titan's were having trouble. It was rather refreshing. He didn't like interfering with the Titan's, but that was defiantly worth it. He didn't even feel the need to beat up Mumbo.

He continued to relax as he sipped his tea. He frowned as he replayed the fight in his mind. There were many things wrong with it, not the least of which was how Mumbo got a ghostly artifact, but one thing really bothered him. Why was cyborg's armor black? And why was 't he moving?

He gets up, cursing as he does so.

He knew he shouldn't have interfered.

* * *

Robin swung his staff, crushing a Slade-bot into itself.

"Where are all of these things coming from?"

Beast Boy changed into an elephant and trampled over some of the robots as Star kept shooting star bolts into the crowd. Raven was on civilian protection duty.

"And where is Cyborg?"

* * *

Danny, keeping up his string of curses, flies over the junk yard. "Let's see... he fell down here..." He slowly flew down until he spotted a hole. "I see... he must have fallen down here." He gently floats down the hole, looking around. He suddenly see's a lot of red eyes surrounding him. "...Shit."

* * *

Robin pants, staring at the junkyard of scrapped Slade-bots. "Where... is... Cyborg?"

Raven flies down. "...He must have gone to the tower to replace his battery..."

Beast Boy yelps. "Either way, no time, dudes!" All of there communicators start beeping again.

Robin takes in one last breath of fresh air. "Titans, go!"

* * *

Danny stared at the junk yard of destroyed robots in front of him, taking in deep breaths. He tried invisibility, but for some reason he just couldn't hide from them.

He angrily kicks a small piece of metal. "I hate this." He starts stalking through the underground tunnel, letting ectoplasm light his way. "Stupid hero's. Stupid robot's. Stupid ghost's." He continues to go down the tunnel, constantly arguing with himself.

'Why am I even here? He's a hero! A freaking HERO! This is not my job.'

Grumble grumble grumble

'I really shouldn't be here. Why am I going through with this? I don't even like him!'

Grumble grumble grumble

He stops and sighs. 'I know why I'm here... though I don't want to admit it...'

* * *

The remaining Titan's, those that aren't being held semi captive, are fighting even more Slade-bots.

"GRAH!" Robin swings down with his staff, throwing boomerangs whenever he is free. It is clear, however, that he is beginning to tire... just like the other three titans.

Starfire is shooting her blasts of green energy down upon the robots, but a few are let through, which Raven takes care of. Beast Boy is stampeding down rows of bots, crushing them underfoot, and Robin is taking the rest.

"Where is Cyborg?"

* * *

Cyborg, strapped to the bench, blinks as he sees Danny walk in. "What are _you _doing here?"

Fixit, his eyes red, turn to stare at Danny. "You broke my robots. I will fix them."

Danny looks at the entire room with a critical stare. "...what's going on here?"

Fixit's eyes turn blue. "He is flawed. I am fixing him."

"No I ain't, man! You're just crazy!"

Danny raises his eyebrow. "...fix him how?"

"He has flawed biological components. I will remove them. Make him like you."

Cyborg stares at Fixit like he's crazy. "See, man? He's crazy!"

Danny studies the situation. "...I see. And how are you planning on dealing with the memories?"

Fixit goes back to work. "...I am going to download them into my memory banks, and reload them into his new memory frame."

Danny stares at him. "...were you human?"

"Yes."

"How long since you were outside?"

"I have not needed to go outside for twenty years tomorrow"

Cyborg watches the conversation with a confused look on his face. "Are ya gonna let me out or what, man?"

Danny shows a slight smirk. "I'm just gonna watch."

* * *

Robin collapses after the second wave of Slade-bots is scrapped. Beast Boy and Starfire join him, all of them panting. Raven stands, but it is obvious that she is breathing heavily.

"I think that is the last of them, Friend Robin."

Then there communicators blink. Everybody but Raven groans in unison.

Robin wobbles up. "...Titans, go."

* * *

"If you take out my biological components, then you take out the best part of me- the part that makes me who I am!"

"I will download your memories, as stated earlier. Your flawed biological components will be removed." Fixit puts on the mask as Danny watches, an emotionless mask on his face.

"NOOOOOOOOO!"

Fixit plugs himself in, and then stumbles back, a distressed and sad look on his face.

"The world outside... the sun... the grass... so beautiful..."

Danny walks over to Cyborg and phases him out.

"Damn it, man! You couldn't a' done that earlier?"

Danny turns to Fixit. "...Fix him."

"Ah... yes." Fixit gets up and plugs himself back in to Cyborg. He resists, but, weakened by his ordeal and the fact that his defensive systems were shut off, Danny can and does hold him still.

Fixit unplugs himself after about a minute "...it is done."

Cyborg's communicator beeps. "What the? My team's in trouble!"

Danny points to the exit. "That's the way out."

Cyborg, not even pausing to say thanks, runs out of the tunnel and back to the Titans.

* * *

Robin pants, sending out his explosive boomerangs to destroy some of the Slade-bots. Beast boy is slowly rumbling through it as a woolly mammoth, Starfire's star bolts are slowing down in frequency, and Raven is having trouble keeping the few civilians left out of trouble, constantly chanting her mantra.

"Booya!" A blue beam cuts through the robots. "Take that!"

"Cy!" Bestboy perks up. "You're here!"

"You better believe it." He runs through the swarm to Robin.

Robin smirks. "You got the sonic?"

"Only if you got the boom."

* * *

Danny sits down next to Fixit. Fixit sighs.

"That beautiful world... a world for human eyes."

Danny shakes his head. "It's a world for all eyes. I should know."

"Maybe... I'm the one that is broken."

Danny looks at him. "...Fixit, what do you know about ectoplasm?"

* * *

Slade is not pleased. "I am not pleased."

He watches the video of the fight with Mumbo Jumbo over and over.

"I am not pleased."


	7. The Minds Eyes

**A/N: Sniff. I love you all! I love each and every one of you! I can't believe all the good reviews I got!**

**Ahem. Anyway, back to business. Once again, I am sorry about the lateness of this chapter. Each chapter takes about two days in RL to make, so I really don't have an excuse. But I'll try (key word; try) to update this about once every week or so.**

**Anyway, onto more writer-y business. This chapter is more centric on the growing relationship between Danny and Raven, even if neither of them know it. I appreciate all the wonderfull reviews I got, and will try to start incorporating them into this story. Also, after my next chapter I'm gonna start looking for a beta. So in anywhere between two days and two years I'll be actually looking at the beta menu.**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or Teen Titans. Sadly.

The Minds Eyes

_Clockwork, as an old man, stared at the giant screen in his tower, static covering it like a snowstorm. It looks like a T.V. without a signal; the only difference was the lack of sound._

_Two of the one eyed watchers come up to him. "This is your fault, Clockwork. Your fiddling has left the time line unstable and unreadable."_

_Clockwork sighed. "I had no choice." He didn't really like or respect the Watchers, but he did feel he owed them an explanation. He turned into a baby as he turned around, the static behind him never fading. "If I did not interfere the way I did, Trigon would have destroyed the earth."_

"_Yes, but it would have passed. It always does." The watchers respond in their usual, uncaring tone._

_Clockwork stared at the two one eyed ghosts. "Do you not care what would have happened to the humans?"_

_The watchers started back. The thermos on the table to the side jumps up a bit, as if a ridiculously strong ghost was doing his best to get out. Clockwork turned into a young adult._

"_No."_

* * *

Clockwork sighed in the abandoned tower. Ever since his screen has been unable to read the future, the Watchers have left to who knows where. He may not be able to see the future any more, but he could still tell that the Watchers would return one day. Hopefully not one day soon.

He looked around his tower. All that he had left was his staff, his useless screen, a few broken time medallions, and the thermos filled with several hundred random ghosts.

He never told the Watchers this, but the evil Danny Phantom was nowhere to be found.

He sighed, contemplating. He had a plan, of course. The baby with old eyes stared at the static-filled screen with sadness. He didn't like messing with the time-line... but he had grown rather fond of the humans. They were unique. And he had no choice if he wanted to save them.

The young man did a quick distance teleportation, teleporting a meditating Danny Phantom away to further his goals.

The old man sat down in a chair. To a ghost of time, every day was Monday, even this Sunday.

-line-

Danny was meditating. He knew he had been moved, and he had a strong suspicion who did it, but he didn't care. At least not until his meditation was interrupted by a half robot's yell of, "Yo, ghost boy! What're you doing here?"

Danny sighed as he opened his eyes, revealing a very strange sight. Utter darkness, with red lights akin to stars all over the place and a few floating rocks. He sighs and turns around, still in his meditation position, to eye two of his least favorite people. Beast Boy and Cyborg. "I'd answer if I knew where 'here' is."

"Don't kid with me, boy! Why're you in Raven's mirror?"

Beast boy was still looking around, rather confused. "Duuuude, what's with this place?"

Danny was about to reply to Cyborg, ignoring Beast boy, when the rocks started rearranging into a kind of spiraling path downwards. Danny's eyes widened. "Man, this place would give the ghost zone a run for it's money..."

Cyborg and Beast boy didn't hear the ghost boys muttering as they looked at each other and down the ramp. "Man, if this is Raven's idea of a joke, sending us to weirdsville..."

Cyborg interrupted him. "Hey, she didn't send us here. You were the one popin' zits in her magic mirror."

"Who bobby traps a mirror?"

"Maybe it wasn't a trap. Maybe this is Raven's way..."

There friendly bickering was interrupted by Danny's voice, already walking down the path. "You coming or what?"

"Dude, watch where you're going! This place could be full of Raven traps!"

"Would you rather stay their?"

Cyborg, remembering that the third member of their little trapped team was Danny Phantom, quickly pointed his sonic cannon at his head. "And why should we follow you?"

Danny didn't even flinch. "Because this is the only way. Unless you planning on jumping down..." He gestured to the space beyond.

Cyborg growled slightly. "Then maybe we should just take care of you here and now."

Danny scoffed. "Please. Even if you could, it's pointless; their might be dangers here, or puzzles or something. We all need all the help we can get."

Cyborg was upset at the ghost's scoffing of his abilities, so his sonic cannon started firing up when Beast Boy tapped his shoulder. "Dude, he's got a point."

Cyborg sighed as he powered down his cannon. "...Fine."

Danny nodded. "Good. Now if you're done being stupid..."

Cyborg's cannon immediately powered back up. "If you do anything suspicious..."

"Don't worry. I'm not stupid like you."

Beast boy chuckled a bit at that as Cyborg glared at them both, his cannon turning back into a hand. Why did it feel like everybody was against him?

* * *

The three super powered teenagers walked along in silence, not talking to one another, each of them thinking deeply in what was going on.

-_Danny-_

Danny, as usual, didn't show his emotions. But he was annoyed. Very, very annoyed. The only ghost that he knew that could pull off a stunt like this would be Clockwork, and even that was questionable... and Clockwork knows full well just what he'll become.

Danny mentally sighed. There was no use in brooding now. He was effectively trapped here, and there was no point in leaving the two idiots behind. Besides, suddenly forming stairs was a pretty big hint as to which way was out, even if it was going to lead straight into a trap.

-_Cyborg-_

Try as he might to deny it, the fact that the ghost boy was here was freaking him out. It just didn't make any sense. He and Beast Boy where in Ravens room... they got teleported here from some freaky mirror... and this annoying hero hater was just floating their, meditating like nothing was out of the ordinary!

And he couldn't even attack him because of their mutual situation! But he promised himself that the moment they got out of here...

-_Beast Boy-_

Beast Boy as rather confused. Sure, this Danny Phantom guy was a jerk, but he didn't seem to be enough of one to get Cyborg so worked up. He was a great arguer, and didn't seem to be any worse then Raven, one of their best friends...

Then again, it could be that his insults at the Titan's being hero's just didn't effect Beast Boy as much, because he didn't know what it was to be a hero in the first place.

But still, to his mind, Phantom would be a great friend once he got over his... jerkiness...

* * *

The three teens walked along in not-so-companionable silence, until they reached an rock arc gate thing with three cute looking raven-things. "Turn back." "Turn back." "Turn back." Their voices where kinda mystical, echoing and strange.

Beast boy grinned. "Sweet! Betcha they can tell us how to get home."

Cyborg frowns. "Careful. How do we know they aren't a threat?"

"Helloooooo? Remember me? Beast Boy? If they were dangerous I'd know."

Both Cyborg and and Danny gave him a distrustful look. Beast Boy ignored them both and continued to walk towards the ravens. "Hey little guys. My buddy and I... and Phantom... were wondering if..." He turned to where the Ravens where. They weren't their, instead crowding around his feet, echoing in their strange voices "Turn back. Turn back. Turn back."

Suddenly they grew two extra eyes as their beaks stretched out, teeth forming.

Beast Boy, keeping his cool as usual, screamed in terror. He turned around and ran, running into Cyborg who feel over and running through the ghost as the birds chased after him, and then through an intangible Danny.

Danny raised an eyebrow as Beast Boy turned into a hippo and tried to eat the ravens... which promptly escaped by biting his tongue. Meanwhile, Cyborg was surrounded by them as they, for some reason, avoided Danny himself. They gave him a wide birth. It confused him no end, but he wasn't going to argue.

A green ostrich and Cyborg was running away from the birds as Cyborg yelled back, "Dude, help us out!"

Danny shrugged as he started shooting some of the birds, giving the two Teen Titans some space. Soon the ostrich was a lama and Cyborg was on it, shooting the birds with them. Soon Danny and the ostrich riding Cyborg were back to back, shooting the birds with a vengeance, when Cyborg accidentally shot the ground beneath them... causing them to fall. Well, to be more accurate, Cyborg and his mount started falling when Danny them to hold them up.

Danny grunted as he held up the two super-teens, slowly inching down... when they saw a Raven in pink standing as if gravity was upside down on the other side of the path.

"Hey guys." She grinned. "What's up?" She waving her hand.

Danny blinked. "Uh... not us?" Suddenly, as if gravity decided to shift, all three of the teens fell onto the path.

Raven started laughing at the hilarious sight.

All three of the teens got up and exchanged bewildered looks. Beast Boy decided to ask the question that was on all of their minds. "Why are you wearing pink?"

Raven laughed some more. "Uhhh... cause it's my favorite color?"

"...It is?" If the three were confused before, they are now bewildered.

Cyborg shook his head. "Look, I'd love to talk fashion, but I don't suppose you know how to get home?"

She grinned. "The forbidden door. It's the only way. But you don't wanna go there. Not now."

The three exchanged looks. "Uh, yeah we do?"

"K! But don't say I didn't warn you!" She started running to the the strange gate along the path, pretending to be a plane.

Cyborg looked to Beast Boy as they started walking. "Have you ever seen her this happy?"

"Dude, I didn't even know she could do happy."

Danny, meanwhile, was thinking, not even noticing when they were teleported into a Doctor Seuss esq land. What was going on with Raven? Something was off... for some reason he was convinced that the girl in pink wasn't Raven... at least not the one that was in his bookstore. He phazed through Cyborg as he stopped in curiosity at the new land.

"Hey, what's your problem?"

"Hm?" Danny turned around. "Just thinking. This place is... off. Well, to be more exact, that Raven is off."

Beast Boy blinked. "How would you know that?"

Danny didn't turn around... he was about to say that he'd met her in her bookstore when the pink Raven started giggling. "You guys are funny~" Danny shook his head, not responding to Beast Boy, grateful for the interruption; he had almost made a fatal mistake.

-_Meanwhile, back at the tower-_

Ravin was in her room after letting out an embarrassing laugh in front of Robin and Starefire. She quickly righted the door and looked at the mirror on her counter.

"No..."

-_Back in the mirror-_

Danny was annoyed. Not the normal kind of annoyed that he felt while dealing with hero's, but the kind of annoyed when facing a fangirl. The pink Raven was hoping around him, trying to get him to smile. "Come on, just let out a smile! It won't hurt~"

"No."

"But-"

"No."

"Just-"

"No."

She pouted and turned to Beast Boy. "Hey, BB! Tell him one of your hi-larious jokes! It always makes me laugh~"

Beast Boy blinks. "...really? You like my jokes?"

"Sure! But looks aren't everything thing~"

Beast Boy and Cyborg exchanged looks. When they turned back, Raven was gone.

Cyborg blinked. "Yo, Phantom! Were'd Raven go!"

He stopped and turned around. "Don't know. Not my fault if you can't keep track of your team mate." He turned back around and continued walking.

Beast Boy pouted. "Man, I can't believe Raven ditched us!"

As Beast Boy started a, in Danny's opinion, useless tired, they walked through a gate similar to what led them to happy land.

Danny blinked as he looked around. They where back where they were when they started, except farther along the path. "Hm. Interesting."

Suddenly, a Raven in a gray robe appeared, startling all three of them... though Danny didn't show it. Beast Boy, after he recovered from his shock, was clearly angry. "Where were you? Shopping for robes?" The gray Raven shrunk away, and looked terribly sad, tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

Danny put his hand on Beast Boys shoulder... how he got behind him, though, is a mystery for the ages. "...different Raven."

"Different Raven? What do you mean different-" Their squabbling was interrupted by Cyborgs shout of excitement, looking ahead.

"Hey, that's that forbidden door, right Raven?"

Raven nodded her head slightly.

Cyborg grinned. "C'mon, ya all! We're almost- uwah!" A wall appeared in front of him, interrupting his path. Quickly walls appeared all around them, Raven terrified, the two other titans startled, and Danny curious.

Without a word Beast Boy turned into a crow and tried to fly above to see the way out when he was shocked by an invisible electric wall as Danny tried to walk through a wall... into a similar shock.

"Aw man, we gotta get out of here!" Cyborg started shooting indiscriminately at the walls.

The gray Raven spoke up. "It's a maze. You can't get out. You have to go through. I can show you the way, but when we reach the end, you won't like me anymore. He already doesn't like me." Raven looked over at Beast Boy at that last statement.

Danny was annoyed. "Ch. He likes you; It's me who doesn't like you. Now are you going to show us the way out or what?"

Raven gave a short nod and started walking away. Beast Boy touched Danny's shoulders. "Hey man... thanks."

Danny simply went intangible so Beast Boy's hand went through him. "Hmph. I wasn't doing it to help you; I was doing it to clear the air. It was growing... distasteful." Danny walked away from Beast Boy and followed Raven. The two remaining Titan's exchanged looks before following.

After a couple of minutes following, Beast Boy started talking to Cyborg. "Geeze, Raven seems rather moody."

"Yeah, it's like she's a whole different person."

Danny spoke up. "She is. In a sense."

"What do you mean?" The question came from Beast Boy... which Danny ignored. Cyborg looked like he was about to blow a gasket at Danny's lack of response when Raven spoke up. She started listing apologies to Beast Boy and Cyborg, occasionally saying one to Danny.

They all said it was alright after she apologized, and that was how the time was passed. Constantly saying it's okay to apologies to events that they didn't even remember. All three of them here beginning to get irritated, though Danny didn't show it.

As they continued walking, Danny's eye started to twitch. He was in the back of the group, so they wouldn't notice his growing annoyance. He was about to shout out at this pity party when a wall opened up in a manner similar to a mechanical gate, revealing the continuing path. A happy and a sad statue stood tall, as if their to guard the path.

Raven said three words that where, miraculously, not an apology. "That's the end."

Beast Boy grinned. "Sweet!"

Cyborg responded in kind. "All right Raven!"

Danny nodded in approval at her, his twitch gone at the prospect of finally getting out of here.

Suddenly, the two statues and their eight eyes glowed as the slammed against each other, forming a four armed moving statue with two menacing looking swords.

"Told you you wouldn't like me..." Raven disappeared as the three remaining teens got into their respective battle stances.

The three teens instantly started fighting, their main goal to get out of the maze, their secondary one to beat this creature. With their respective skill sets, they easily got to the other side of the stone statue... now the problem was to not die.

They all backed up, not wanting to be the first one to move... eventually, they could see the whole maze in the distance and the statue was starting to swing it's swords at them. Beast Boy tried to attack it as a crow as Danny and Cyborg shot their beams at it.

The only thing they managed to get accomplished was a captured Beast Boy.

Suddenly, a voice yelled out that sounded suspiciously like Ravens as she flew out of the tree's... this time in a green cloak. She easily hit on of the statue's faces and landed in front of the three bewildered males. "Haha! In your faces!"

She immediately ran back into the fight, easily dodging the two swords. She leapt up and cut the statue in the middle with her fingers, leaving it harmless. Beast Boy and Cyborg where gaping, whereas Danny had only a raised eyebrow. "...impressive."

"Who-wa! High fives! Come one!" Raven grinned at them.

Beast Boy finally was annoyed to the point of bursting. "What is your deal? First you nuke breakfast, then finally laugh at my jokes, then your all weepy, and now your a marine! Make up your mind! Who are you?"

The pink Raven and the gray Raven show up as they say in unison, "I'm Raven."

Beast Boy fainted for a second.

Cyborg points at the pink one, the gray one, and the green one. "Happy, timid, brave."

Pink Raven giggled as she pointed at Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Danny. "You forgot dopy, stubborn and sexy~"

Danny raised an eyebrow at that as Cyborg continued. "Different sides of Raven's personality. We're not in Ravens home."

"We're in her head." Beast boy finishes.

"About time you two got it." Danny said with a hint of annoyance. "Seriously, read a bit of occult."

Then Raven's normal voice, cold and with a hint of anger, echoed through the place. "And I want you out."

All six teens looked up to see the normal Raven in her blue cloak leap down as the three other Raven's disappeared.

Raven started walking towards the three. "The mirror you found was for meditation. It's a portal into my MIND! NOT a TOY!" Raven was clearly upset as she shouted at Beast Boy.

Beast Boy grinned sheepishly. "Hehe... my bad."

Raven took a deep breath as she took a step back, and turned her head towards Danny. "And why are you here?"

Danny shrugged. "No idea."

"You're lying." Raven could sense it.

"Perhaps."

Raven was about to rebuttal when all the ravens on the trees took off flying for no apparent reason, cutting her short. "You have to go. Now."

Cyborg turned to Raven. "Hold up. What's going on here?"

"Last night, something... got loose. Something bad."

"Oh no you don't. I've had it with this mystery girl routine. I want to know exactly what we're talking about here." Beast Boy had had it. Again.

Suddenly a huge roar was let loose, revealing a red giant with pointed ears and iron anklets. Four orange eyes and long white hair are what defined it's head as it released a terrifying presence. "Hatred shall rule."

Danny's eyes widened. He whispered in a voice that only Raven could here, "Trigon..." He shook his head, and said in a louder voice, "That's what we're dealing with."

Both Beast Boy and Cyborg ran towards what looked like an exit as Raven and Danny dodged destructive orange beams from the giant's eyes; they landed next to each other in front of the down Cyborg and Beast Boy, and said in unison "Azarath Mentrion Zinthos!" They both summoned shields, one green and one black; they combined to black shield with green sparking off of it, blocking Trigon's follow up attack without any damage.

Danny and Ravin looked at each other, curious expressions on their faces at their similar battle cry.

Trigon continued to attack the shield as Raven turned to face the three male teens. "Get out of my mind. Now!" Her voice was slightly strained.

"And leave you alone with that?" Beast Boy pointed at the red giant.

Cyborg turned to Raven. "Not gonna happen."

Danny just grunted as he continued his efforts with the shield, not responding... but it was clear that his reaction was similar to Beast Boy's, even without the words.

Raven frowned as she continued to pour energy into the shield. "It's my problem. I'll deal with it. If I lose here you'll be stuck in here forever!"

Trigon started attacking the shield with balls of energy, and soon the shield fell apart. "Go!" Raven yelled as she used her powers to push back the three teens towards the portal. They stood in shock as they watched Raven fly towards the giant, hitting it with black beams... the effect was akin to a fly attacking a human.

Danny's mind was going at a hundred miles an hour.

_What do I do, what do I do? I know what's it like, but this is her mind! I shouldn't interfere! Let her deal with Trigon! I should get out of here! She's a hero, and I'm out for myself! I should leave! LEAVE!_

Despite Danny's internal shouting, he found he wouldn't move.

_Come on! It's her mind! What can you do here? She's got the power!_

As Danny was trying to get himself to leave, he heard a voice he though he had long since buried... the voice of a hero.

_Can you really just leave her?_

_Yes! She's a hero!_

_So are you!_

_No, I'm not! I killed everybody who I love!_

_Then now is the time to make up for it!_

_No! I can't help!_

_Can't or won't?_

_It doesn't matter!_

_Yes it does! MOVE!_

"Shit!" Danny swore as Raven was caught by the red giant. He turned around and used his beams to push out Beast Boy and Cyborg, so stunned that they couldn't even respond as he flew up towards the giant.

"Yo ugly! Get out of here!" Flying at higher then his top speed, with ecto-powered fists, he punched Trigon. Hard. He stumbled off of the edge as Raven slipped from his hand; Danny quickly flew down to catch her and put her on the ground.

She slowly opened her eyes. "You... stayed? The others...?"

Danny snorted, as if in amusement. "You really think they would leave their friend? I had to push them out."

"Their... friend...?"

Danny shook his head as he dropped Raven's, standing up. "You really are blind. Now do you have a plan for Trigon? I don't care how he's in your mind, but we've gotta stop him."

As if his name summoned him, Trigon's head started to rise back up, showing the two super teens four glowing, hate-filled eyes. He stood up. "Rage shall consume you!"

Raven got up herself. "Nope."

Danny grinned as he cracked his knuckles. "So just keep hitting him?"

"Yep."

"I can live with that."

Trigon yelled as he let his eye beams loose, "Feel my rage!"

Danny and Raven flew up, as if in sink, letting loose their green and black beams towards the red giant. They dodged his hands and his eye beams, continuing to fire at top speed. It was as if they had practiced for years.

After about five minutes of this they managed to hide behind a rock after one of his eye beams.

Raven started speaking as she lowered her hood. "He's too strong. Even with your help I can't beat him."

Danny looked over the edge at Trigon. "What about your other sides? I've only seen three of them, but there's got to be more."

"It's no use. None of them have the power we need."

"Alone? Or together?" Danny internally cursed himself at that. He hated teams... one of them always betrayed the rest.

One of Trigon's beams nearly hit them. "Gah! You do it! I'll stall Trigon!" He flew out of the alcove towards the red giant, a small smile forming on Raven's face.

Raven stood in a kind of field as she started meditating. Seven Ravens in various colored cloaks appeared in front of her. After forming a circle around the original, they all started floating. Soon they where spinning around her at top speed.

Meanwhile, Danny was having his hands full with Trigon. He was getting singed by his eye beams as he punched and shot at the red giant, his eyes starting to have a hint of red themselves. "Come on, Raven... hurry up..."

Danny suddenly grinned as a giant Raven in a white cloak appeared behind Trigon, his red eyes quickly fading.

Raven let loose black beams, holding Trigon's arms behind his back. "You're going back where you belong!"

"Never!" Trigon broke loose, clearly ready to fight back... but Raven was first, letting loose yet more black beams. Trigon let loose his own beams, his red ones meeting her black ones. The beams met in mid-air, pushing back and forth. Raven let loose one final push of black energy, hitting Trigon with an explosion of energy. Trigon quickly became one last Raven, with four red eyes and a red cloak. She glared at the giant white Raven, rage clear in her face... before she too was absorbed into the white Raven.

There was a flash, and all that was left was the normal blue cloaked Raven. She feel back in exhaustion as Danny caught her. "There we go. Easy."

Raven slowly got onto her own feet. "Thank you-" Before she could finish Danny was holding her against a rock in a grapple.

"If you tell ANYBODY what I did here, I swear, Trigon is the least you have to worry about it."

Raven blinked, shocked at the sudden change in attitude of her comrade. "But you saved-"

"No! No I did not! I left with the other two!" Danny seemed almost desperate, and Raven could feel the raw desperation in his voice.

"Why are you-"

"Doesn't matter! I NEVER HELPED!"

"But-"

"No! I wasn't here! And if you DARE tell anybody otherwise, I'll sneak into this tower, steal your mirror, and let loose whatever demons I can find in here! Understand?"

Raven frowned. He seemed absolutely desperate to keep this information under wraps... and that threat was a serious one. She let loose a curt nod. "...fine."

Danny stumbled backwards, practically shaking in relief. "...good..." He sighed in relief.

Raven tilted her head in curiosity. She wasn't really afraid, because the ghost never really let loose any real anger... just desperation... fear... terror... she almost... felt sad for him...

Danny hopped up, his emotional mask back on. "This was a one time thing. Don't expect this to ever happen again." He quickly turned invisibly and flew out of the portal, back to his home, shaking all the way there.

* * *

After the initial panic that Beast Boy and Cyborg had formed after being shot out of the mirror, Robin had isolated Beast Boy. "Do you... dislike me...?" She was unusually timid, and she didn't like that... but she had to find out.

"What? No! Dude, I thought it was you who disliked me!"

Ravin let out a slight smile, undetectable under her hood. "Then we where both mistaken."

* * *

Danny was shaking in his bed, tears streaming down his face. "No... never again... I'm no hero... I'll betray them, just like I betrayed my family and friends..." It was with those words that Danny sobbed himself to sleep. Somehow, he knew he wouldn't be open tomorrow.

* * *

Raven was meditating in her room, thinking. What was with the enigmatic Phantom? He helped her... yet he was terrified to receive the credit. He saved her... yet he hated hero's. He was a ghost... yet... he was warm to the touch...

* * *

Cyborg was confused. Phantom pushed him and BB out of Raven's mind and turned to fight... yet Raven denied it. But he knows he wasn't wrong. He had it recorded, and he watched it again and again. Just what happened after he was kicked out?

* * *

Clockwork looked at the teens, his screen reprogrammed to show the present, and sighed. Things did not go how he planned... the baby turned around and floated away, seeming to pace the tower, thinking. If he was to save humanity, he first had to save Danny Phantom.


	8. Pulling the Strings

**A/N: I have deteremined the most addictive of all substances on the earth. Reviews.**

**What? It's true. Their more addicting then food. Seriously.**

**Anyway, this is my latest (and longest) chapter. Over eight thousand words! That's about two and a half thousand more then my second longes. In this chapter, and my future ones, I'm going to try and take it a bit slower, describe some things more, give more details on the thoughts and actions of the characters. Please tell me if this is a good choice.**

**As an answer to the question posed by Blood Brandy: Not yet. Some of Danny's old foes do have an effect on this story, but keep in mind that by the end of the cannon show Danny could easily beat any of his normal foes, and sometimes Plasmius. Now, even with his two belts, he is stronger then that. They are terrified. But don't worry! They will come. Oh yes, they will come. Hehehehehehe...**

**As a side note, the beta search thing scares me! It's so big and long and confusing! And how do I know if the beta I get will be good for me? (I'm sure that they are all good, but I'm not so sure they are all good for me.) I will get a beta eventually... once I manage to bite back my fear...**

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or Teen Titans. Sadly.

Pulling the Strings

_Many people believe time to be immutable, that free will is nothing more then a fancy of the human race._

_Those people are now wrong._

_If one person can choose their destiny, then their choices will effect others. And those people's choices will effect others._

_Destiny is no longer the case._

_Free will is._

_It is now up to Danny Phantom and those he interacts with... and who those interact with... to change the future._

_Their fate is now in their own hands._

* * *

Danny was meditating on the roof of his store, the full moons light shining down on him. Ever since his last 'adventure' with the Titan's, he had been more easily spooked, more easily angered. He almost hit Donna yesterday!

Danny let out an almost imperceptible growl. What was wrong with him? He was supposed to be in control. He was supposed to be able to put a stop block on his emotions. When did he get so weak? Last week he cried himself to bed!

He sighed as his floating, his ghostly form slowly lowered and turned back to his more 'normal' body. He stared across the city, a far away look in his eyes. He recalled back to when he used to fly over his home town, Amity Park, just for the heck of it. And tonight was a perfect night for flying... the air was cool and crisp, the wind practically non-existent, and the full moon was practically begging to light the way.

Danny turned his back on the moon and started walking back into his store, not realizing that his hands were trembling slightly.

He slowly walked down the stares, past his bedroom, past the bookstore, and down to his laboratory. He looked at the prototype of a belt he was making... it was supposed to be twice as effective as the normal ones he was wearing right now. But he reached a dead end. How was he supposed to power it?

The previous version worked by running off of the ectoplasm of the various ghosts that the wearers body touched, but this version, for whatever reason, just wouldn't work.

He put it back on the bench and looked at another of his experiments.

Another Fenton Thermos, this one usable on anything. The main problem was that while Ectoplasm was shrinkable... normal matter wasn't. The last time he tried it exploded and tree guts flew everywhere. Another failure.

He looked at his next test. It looked like a simple wooden sword, but it drew upon the natural ectoplasm of its user to cut through any known material on the planet. And several unknown ones on others. Unfortunately, it drew a little too much power for his taste; he could only wield it a minute, tops, before he was forced to transform back. And that was without doing anything else!

He grumbled to himself as he looked at the next one. A prototype of the ghost gauntlets he'd seen the future Vlad wield... they worked, but he would never use them. Not after what could have happened...

He sighed as he turned around and went back to his bed. He was no good at this kind of stuff. He would be better off leaving it to Fixit; he at least seemed to be able to make some progress.

* * *

Raven was meditating in her room, chanting her line in a calming fashion over and over again. She felt in control for the first time in a while. Ever since that... incident... in her mind, she was feeling out of sorts. It was weird; whenever she thought of the enigmatic ghost, she felt slightly... weird... in the pits of her stomach.

Raven sighed as she straightened up; she wouldn't get anywhere with her meditation until she sorted herself out. She silently walked for the elevator to the roof.

As the elevator rose, her thoughts turned back to the mysterious ghost that somehow invaded her mind... and saved her from herself. Why didn't he want to be called a hero? He clearly was one, even if he denied it. He risked himself for her, and he saved Beast Boy and Cyborg.

She would kill to have her questions answered... the only person that he reminded her of was, well...

_ding_

The elevator reached the top of the tower. Raven, momentarily shaken from her thoughts, walked out onto the roof to a most unusual sight. Their, her feet dangling in the air, sitting on the roof, was Starfire. She was practically brooding. Something was clearly wrong.

Raven sat down next to her, her legs crossed over one another in a meditative stance. She spoke with her slightly worn from disuse voice. "...what are you doing here?"

Starfire turned to look at Raven, a sad look on her face. "Just thinking about not-friend Phantom, friend Raven."

Raven nodded in understanding... she was doing that just a minute ago. Despite her better judgment, she was rather curious. She gestured for her to continue.

Starfire sighed-a noise which most defiantly should NOT have come from somebody with her personality- as she looked up at the twinkling stars. "It is most confusing. Not-friend Phantom is clearly a friend, yet he insists that he is not. Is it normal for earthlings to shun affection? Are our teammates the exceptions?"

Raven looked blandly at Starfire. This was not her place... normally Robin would talk to her about earth culture... but she could try. Even though she wasn't an earthling herself, she did come from a place very similar. "No, Starfire. It is not normal. Phantom is the exception... but I do not know why."

Starfire nodded as she leaned back until she was lying down. "He seems so lonely... like you used to be, friend Raven."

Used to be? That was an interesting response. Raven was about to ask Starfire to elaborate when a noise was heard throughout the tower, signalling the return of the males of the team. Raven silently phased down, not bothering to stand up, to make sure that nothing was awry. Starfire used the elevator a moment later.

* * *

The five titans opened up the box, revealing puppets. Six of them. Five of them where fairly obvious for them. One of each titan. It was the sixth one that was a mystery. Their, in the box, with the rest of the titans, was one Danny Phantom puppet.

They were all confused.

"What the heck man? What's up with this?" Cyborg was the first to break the silence. Beast Boy soon followed.

"Yeah! That dude's not a titan! Why's he in their with us?"

Raven decided to try to stop this argument in the bud. "Clearly whoever made these made a slight mistake."

Cyborg turned to her. "Slight? That guy's never even been in the tower! Who in the world could mistake him for one of us?"

Robin spoke up now. "Well, he has been with us on are most recent adventures..."

This sparked a whole new set of complaints, mainly from Cyborg with Beast Boy as backup. Raven and Robin tried to calm them down, but to no avail. Meanwhile, as four of the five titans argued, the fifth picked up the remaining puppet.

"...not-friend Phantom? Is this from you?" She gently poked the puppet, and giggled at the way it moved.

This stopped all arguments instantaneously. They turned to the alien in their group at the sound of her light giggle. It has been a while since she giggled, and all of them where relieved to hear it again. And if a mistakenly sent puppet was what caused her increase in mood, who where they to argue?

* * *

Fixit's life has taken two one eighty's. Not a three sixty, but two one eighty's. The difference is subtly, but it is there.

Fixit started out as a normal human with a penchant for mechanics and organics. He made break through after break through in the area of prosthetics. He made it so that, on occasion, the fake limb would be better then the real one. His original name, long lost to the ages, was known across the planet.

As Fixit's business life grew, his personal one shrunk. He had one brother that died at the age of thirty one due to mass organ failure. His mother and father never recovered... and tried to make their sickly alive son their active dead one.

Disenchanted with normal human life, he slowly became more and more withdrawn, spending more time alone in the dark then with his friends in the sun. The pure joy of creating and fixing was all that kept him going... and he managed to fool himself into thinking that that was enough, thinking that he was in paradise.

So, when his organs began to fail, he looked for a way to extend his life with his work... and he found it. His work grew to absorb him; he became obsessed. He spent more and more time alone. More and more of his employees left. Some quite, some died, his body now immortal. His company now in shambles, he left for a more isolated area after his building was scheduled for destruction; a cave underneath the city dump.

Now, however, he had a friend. Danny Phantom. He had a job. He played in the sun. And he still enjoyed fixing and making.

This was paradise he long thought he was in.

Two one eighty's. Everything lost and everything gained. And he would do anything to protect it.

Leading to what he was currently working on; armor that covered and protected him, complete with ghost protection... just in case what he needed to protect his best and only friend.

* * *

The Puppet Master sneaked around Titan Tower, his goal in mind. He had already captured Robin, Beast Boy, and Cyborg. Half of the Titan's where now his puppets. All that was left was Raven, Starfire, and Danny Phantom. His master would be pleased

Unfortunately, he had no idea where the Titan's newest member slept. He couldn't find his bed anywhere! This was not good. If he didn't get what his master wanted, then he would be punished greatly. Where was he?

* * *

Danny Phantom was in Fixit's little hide away, a rather large warehouse on the docks. "You wanted to see me?" His voice was cold, but Fixit knew that he was happy, or at least calm. Friends developed a kind of understanding that let them know this sort of thing.

"Ah, yes." Fixit had a slight smile on his face. "I wanted to test a ghost scanner on you, to make sure it worked."

Danny nodded. What's the worse that could happen? After all, even as a human scans showed him as a ghost. "Go ahead."

Fixit took out something similar to those portable scanners at some stores. He pointed it at Danny and pressed the button. Fixit looked at the screen, tilted his head ever so slightly, pointed it back at Danny and scanned again. He looked at the screen. Then back at Danny.

"...Danny Phantom? Are you human?"

Danny paused, more then slightly worried. What did Fixit mean? "...no. Of course not. I'm a ghost."

Fixit blinked. He adjusted some of the dials on his device. "Then... do you have a human core? My scanner can detect humans and ghosts. It is more accurate that way."

Danny paused again. What was he going to say to that?

* * *

Raven was frustrated, annoyed, confused, worried, and a little bit scared. She shoved all of these emotions down with practiced ease as she turned to Starfire. "Starfire. Stop. My powers work off of emotions. You need to calm down." Despite the fact that her words were in Starfire's voice, her tone was all Raven.

"But-but-but our friends are captured by that strange puppet man! We must rescue them!" Starfire was giving Raven's worn voice a major workout with her fast, loud and worried tone.

Raven shook her head. "How? Every time you think you blow something up, and I can't use your powers at all. We'd be useless."

"Then teach me!" Starfire stamped her foot. "I refuse to stand by and sit here while our friends are in danger!"

Raven sighed, her eyes betraying her annoyance. "Starfire. He has control of Beast Boy, Cyborg and Robin. We wouldn't stand a chance even if we were at our full strength."

Starfire was frustrated, and she showed it by increasing her volume even more. "Then we get help!"

"Who? We're the strongest people in the city, except for..." Raven's eyes widened. "...no. You aren't thinking..."

"We get not-friend Phantom!" A nearby car exploded.

* * *

Danny didn't know what to say to Fixit... but he knew he had to say something. On the one hand, he most definitely didn't want anybody to know his secrete... not now, not ever. But on the other hand, that device was truly remarkable... much better then anything he could make. Or his parents... before he...

Danny sighed. He knew he had not choice. "Fixit. Do you trust me?"

Fixit nodded, his motion on only the barest edge of human perception. "You saved me; I trust you with my life."

Danny looked away. "...don't. I'm going to tell you my story. Don't interrupt, don't kill me, and don't tell anyone."

Fixit took a long time to nod, thinking things through. It had been a while since he actually had to process these complicated emotional decisions. But eventually, nod he did.

Danny looked at Fixit, a strange mix of desperation, hope and sadness on his face. A white ring appeared around his waist, split into two, and soon, in front of Fixit, was standing a human.

* * *

"Starfire, no!" Raven was raising her voice, frustration and anger leaking out of it. Her hands had a slight green glow around them. "You promised him you wouldn't go near him!"

"But not-friend Phantom is our only hope! You said yourself that alone we have no hope!" Black sparks were beginning to come off of her, shocking anything nearby.

"Then we find another way! There had got to be another way!" Ravens hands were glowing green, ready to fire out starbolts. "You promised h-"

Starfire had had enough. She was furious. Her whole body was enveloped in the strange black fire that signified Raven's powers. "Do you not care about our friends? Do you wish for them to be puppets forever?"

Raven stopped, her hands flickering out. She looked away, the fire gone from her eyes as she quieted down. "It's not like that... It's just..." She looked up at the clear sky, the stars twinkling so far away. She turned to Starfire, who saw the dead look in her eyes... and calmed down herself. "...if you truly believe that that is the only way... then let's go."

"Raven? Are you... okay?"

"No."

"Do you want to do the talking about?"

"No."

Starfire looked uncomfortable. She hated these conversations with Raven. "Um... okay. But... if we are to find not-friend Phantom, I need to be in the air. I only know how to get their from the sky. How do you fly, Raven?"

* * *

Fixit was thinking through the story that Phantom... no, Danny had just told him. He wasn't sure what was worse... what he did, or how he didn't seem to feel a single emotion as he described it. For the first time in a very long time, Fixit didn't know what to think.

He knew Phan- Danny. Not very well, but he knew enough. He knew that he was kind, though he didn't show it. He knew that he was thoughtful, though he kept it hidden. He knew that he was a hero... or at least had the potential to be.

Fixit mentally shook his head. What happened happened, and it didn't matter if it was heroic or demonic. He should know better then anyone else that the past is the past. It's the future that matters. He once ruined his future... and he refused to do it again.

* * *

Danny was meditating on the roof of his store, calm and confident that Fixit could keep an eye on it. He didn't know why, but he was worried something was going to happen to his store tonight, and Fixit volunteered to look after it.

Maybe having a friend wouldn't be so bad after all...

No. Danny cut that line of thought off right there. He was not going down that road. Not again. He would never get attached to anyone ever again. Ever. It wasn't worth the risk... the pain of having your heart ripped out...

Danny was half grateful, half annoyed when he felt two presences land behind him... Raven and Starfire, if he was not mistaken.

* * *

Raven and Starfire were both nervous as they landed on Phantom's rooftop, both for different reasons. Raven couldn't help but remember the ruthlessness that Phantom had shown her when they last met... if they got him angry, she was certain that he would not hold back on them. She also felt a bit... weird... around him. It was... difficult to define... though it was certainly something that she had never felt before. Her eyes scoured the back of the muscular ghost, trying to figure it out.

Starfire was mostly worried that Phantom would not help them, seeing as, any way one looked at it, she was breaking her promise to not-friend Phantom. She quickly gathered her courage and opened her mouth to speak, certain that he would help them. However, before she could say anything, Phantom spoke up.

"I thought you promised to never come here again, Starfire." With minimal movement he put his legs on the ground and stood up, his back to them. "And Raven, what a surprise. Are you hero's determined to make me angry?" He turned his head oh so slightly to where Starfire's body resided as he spoke..

Raven and Starfire started, surprised. They where certain that they didn't make a noise as they landed, and yet here he had identified them correctly... even in their wrong bodies! He was impressive, no doubt about that.

Ravin tried to speak this time. "Phantom, we need your help. Our-"

"No." Was his curt reply.

Starfire tried again. "But not-friend Phantom! Our friends are in danger, and-!"

Phantom interrupted again. "Don't know, don't care. Now. Go. Away."

Ravin tried one last time. "Phantom, please. Without your help, they may die."

Phantom snorted, showing no outward signs of the internal conflict he was feeling. "Don't care. Now leave. Both of you."

Starfire suddenly spoke up, without thinking, and yelled at the ghost boy. "Friend Phantom! You are a hero! Help us save our friends!"

Danny whirled around, his internal conflict squashed by pure anger. Facing the two girls, he slowly opened his eyes. He would have been surprised that Ravin and Starfire were in the wrong position if not for his rage, consuming all thoughts. It was shown through his eyes. They were red. "You just made. A big mistake."

Raven took a step back, startled at the eyes. Those hauntingly angry, evil red eyes. This was bad. Very, very bad. For the first time in her life since she left Azerath, her voice quacked with worry. "Starfire... we... we should leave. Now."

Starfire, far to stubborn with anger to listen to reason or fear right now, stamped her foot. "No! Friend Phantom is a hero, and we need his help!"

Danny Phantom took a step forward, his pure ectoplasmic energy radiating off of him like tsunami after tsunami. It was not a good sign. "I'm going to hit both of you. Then I'm going to shoot you. I might kill you. I'm going to drive in, once and for all..."

Starfire and Ravin took a step back, instinctively.

"THAT I AM NOT A HERO!" He flew at them, screaming an animalistic cry, his fists glowing ghostly green.

* * *

Slade looked up above to the sky, and saw three teens flying away. One was angry, one was confused, and one was sad. Interesting. Why was Starfire sad?

Slade gave his head an imperceptible shake to clear his thoughts. He would deal with that later. Right now, though, he had a goal.

He looked at the shop that he was about to enter. He required more information on this... Danny Phantom... and this was the only building that he was known to frequent. He suspected that he might be staying at Titan Tower, somehow avoiding his bugs, but the Puppet master squashed that idea.

He slowly stepped out of the shadow and walked towards the store, a good fifty of his new robots behind him. He didn't expect any real opposition, but better safe then sorry. It's not like anyone could notice invisible robots, anyway.

He stepped up to the door and carefully opened it. It was unlocked. Strange. He stepped into the store, and saw a strange, tall man behind the counter. He was wearing a cloak, and his blue eyes were clearly mechanical.

The strange man spoke up, in a voice clearly worn from recent over use. "Can I help you?"

Slade looked around. There was nobody else in the store... this man was not part of his planes, but he could adapt. He always did. "No... I am just looking for a book."

The strange man nodded his head, and gestured slightly with his clearly mechanical arm and hand to the bookshelves. "Take your time."

Slade nodded and looked at the books. Fascinating. Some of these books even he didn't have... and yet this one store did. What was his source? He had to find out.

Fixit watched as the strange masked man took down books to look at the titles, the grace of a martial artist governing his movements. He could detect the fifty ecto signatures outside the store, of course, but he didn't mention it. Best not to ask for trouble when trouble wasn't wanted.

This changed, however, when he spotted the man place a small mechanical device on the bottom of the table where he was sitting at. "Please remove your bug, sir."

Slade started. He looked up at the man, his eyes hiding his emotions. How did he know? How did he see? Did he just guess? He knew, somehow, he needed this place bugged just as much, if not more, then Titan Tower. So he lied. "I do not know what you are talking about."

Fixit slowly nodded. "...I see. Then please leave. We are closing up the store, and I must remove your bug."

Slade slowly stood up. He imperceptibly signaled his robots to come closer to the store. "I must tell you that you do not know what you are getting into. Do you wish for trouble?" Slade truly did not want to fight... at least not when it would bring trouble. And he found that intimidation usually worked best. This strange machine man didn't seem to notice, or even care, about his mask, one of his key intimidation tools... but he could still try.

The man slowly shook his head. "...no. But I will not flee. Please leave." Fixit did not want to fight in his friends store; he knew how much Danny, Phantom or Fenton, valued his store.

Slade slowly walked up to the counter. "I suggest you leave; I can pay you handsomely if you simply look the other way." Slade did not like to bribe; he only did it when there was no other immediate courses available to him. Intimidation didn't work, and he highly doubted that seduction would. Bribery was usually safer, but sometimes backfired tremendously.

Fixit stared at the maxed man, his eyes showing no emotion. "Leave. Now."

Slade sighed. Bribery backfired "I tried to warn you..." He waved his hand in a visible motion, and fifty robots leapt into the store through the windows and the door, suddenly visible. "Now you've got trouble. May I ask your name? I do hate killing people without knowing their name."

Fixit slowly stood up, his hands by his side. "My friend calls me Fixit. But you may know me as..." he sent a mental command to his armor, and he slowly grew. Soon seven feet tall, the mechanical man used his large arm to remove his cloak, revealing a hulking machine made to destroy. "Breakit."

* * *

Danny flew after the two teens, destruction and death on his mind. Parr of him was screaming at him to stop, to re-evaluate what he was planning... but it was easily drowned out by his fury. He watched as the two girls fled from him. As they should. He quickly sped up and started shooting at them, not planning on any mercy.

Starfire, in Raven's body, eeped as she instinctively flew upwards to dodge a green beam of energy. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" She shouted, and a black shield came up to protect her from some of the beams. "Friend Phantom! Why do you do this?" Her voice spoke volumes. Much more then just the words. They expressed her confusion and anger. It showed her desperation for help.

Danny simply roared in anger, and flew towards the black orb floating in the sky. Raven saw what he was doing and shouted, "No!" as she flew to intercept him. She punched him out of the way, her hands glowing slightly green. "Stop this! We don't want to fight you!"

Danny spun away, but he quickly straightened himself. His red eyes glared at the two girls who were not born on earth. "But _I_ want to fight _you!_" He charged again, his red eyes leaving an after glow that burned into the girls minds. The pure fury... the pure _evil _they saw their... it left no room in their minds for doubt. If they didn't win, they were going to die. By Danny Phantom's hands. Viciously, and without mercy.

Danny charged between the two as he shot ecto beams at them both. Starfire absorbed them with her black shield, but Raven... Raven was not so lucky. Still not used to flying based on happiness, strength based on confidence and fighting based on anger, she was unable to fly, hit or fight in any worthwhile manner. As such, she was the one that was hit.

* * *

Raven screamed. She was hit. She hurt. And she was falling. She couldn't get back up. All these years of hiding her emotions, keeping them hidden, and she was going to die because of this? An ill thought out plea for help? What was she to do? What could she do? She was going to die. She was going to hit the cement below her. She was going to feel a moment of pain, and then it would be over.

* * *

Starfire screamed. Her only female friend was hit. Her emotions out of control, black sparks started to fly everywhere, the air around her smelling like ozone. She was falling, unable to keep her emotions enough under control to fly. She wouldn't be able to get get back up. She knew this. She was going to die, in a body not her own, at the hands of one who she thought was a friend. She was wrong. And she was going to die for it.

* * *

Danny screamed, but on the inside. He watched as he killed two girls, innocent of everything but angering him. Yet, at the same time, he was glad they would be gone. So glad. They wouldn't question him anymore. They wouldn't make him angry or sad. The one that looked like Sam wouldn't draw out feelings that he had long since hidden.

Time froze.

He didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to act. So he watched, numbly, as they fell. He knew they would die. Both of them. It was painfully obvious.

But... why did it hurt? He killed before. He killed his best friend, his family, his teacher and his crush. And he didn't feel a thing until a week later. But this... it hurt. His heart was screaming at him, shaking him, trying to get him to move, to do something! But he couldn't. He watched as the two girls fell, inch by inch, foot by foot.

He looked at his hands, a slight green glow still on them. What should he do? What _could_ he do? He could save them... but then he would have acted like a hero. He could let them fall... but then they would die. No matter what he did, he would lose.

He would lose... he would lose... he would lose...

A small voice spoke up inside inside of him, telling him to fight anyway, telling him that not all was lost. It was silenced by the rest of him... but it kept talking, whispering to him.

If one was going to lose no matter what one did, what was one to do?

One gave up... or looked for the ending that wasn't as bad as the rest.

Danny had been called many things in his life. Ghost. Monster. Villain. Hero. Friend. Son. Brother. Murderer. None he choose, but all a part of him.

What part of him would he show today?

Time unfroze.

* * *

Fixit, now back to his normal body size, looked impassively around the store. Robot parts lay everywhere, ectoplasm leaking out of some. Remarkably, the store hadn't been too damaged. The books, shelves, and everything beyond the counter where untouched. Unfortunately, the tables and chairs where not so lucky.

Fixit looked at the robotic head in his hands, a strange orange and black mask on it. What would he tell Danny?

Fixit looked around the store, then made a decision. Nothing. He would tell Danny nothing. He would fix up the store, clean out the robot parts and ectoplasm, replace the windows, door, tables and chairs, and he would hide this from Danny.

Fixit may be mostly machine, but he was human enough to know that Danny didn't need anything else bothering him.

* * *

Ravin continued to scream as she fell, certain she was destined to die in a body not her own. She saw the ghost boy that killed her struggle with himself, his eyes flashing between red and green. Then she saw him rushing towards her.

She watched as he concentrated, a bit of sweet coming from his forehead. It momentarily struck her as odd that a ghost could sweat, but that was stopped when she saw what happened next.

He split in two.

Two phantoms. One for her, one for Starfire. They weren't going to die. Not today, at least.

She watched as the the two phantoms caught the two titans in midair and put them on the road... then she watched as one of the ghosts, the one that saved Starfire in her body, poofed out of existence. The remaining ghost fell down, landing on his hands and knee's, clearly exhausted.

Raven turned to Starfire, the black orb she was caccooned in slowly shrinking away. She looked up at Phantom... and quickly got to her feet and backed away, fear on her face. It was clear that she did not expect to be attacked and nearly killed... and it was clear that she didn't know what to think. Her eyes were darting back and forth, looking for the best escape route in case things went south.

She then turned her head back towards the enigmatic ghost boy that saved their lives... after almost killing them. For some reason he seemed to get closer... she heard in the distance Starfire shouting at her to get away, and she realized that she was walking towards their would be murderer.

She leaned down on one knee and looked at his white hair, a strange aura surrounding him as he panted. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to think. She didn't know what to do. So she just looked. She watched as he slowly regained his breath and looked up at her, clearly still recovering.

Danny hesitated, looking into the eyes of Starfire behind which Raven lay. He still didn't know how he knew that they where in the wrong bodies. He just... did. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to think. He didn't know what to do. So he just looked. He saw her face, seemingly blank and emotionless... but could tell that their was a torrent of emotions rushing beneath it, barely under control. He idly wondered why she was here, why she was so close to him... but that was interrupted when Raven was suddenly pulled away from him.

Starfire was confused, worried and scared. Confused because Raven just walked towards the ghost boy that sometimes had red eyes that almost killed them. Worried because Raven was still close to him... and she didn't know when he would snap. But most of all, she was scared. Was he evil? Was he just taunting them? Would he kill them? Did he want them alive for some nefarious purpose? These and many other questions raced through her head as she grabbed Raven and pulled her away. She may be cold and seemingly emotionless, but Raven was her friend. Unlike Phantom.

Right?

Danny watched as Raven was dragged away by Starfire, even though it looked like the opposite. He slowly shifted his body so that he was sitting, his back against a nearby wall. That split took a lot out of him, and he still didn't have access to his elemental powers again. He was almost tempted to remove one of his belts, but he knew what would happen if he did.

He just sat their, resting, for the next few minutes. After his breathing became somewhat manageable, he slowly got up on his still shaky legs... when he let out a small wisp of smoke from his mouth.

He stretched, letting out a few choice curse words as he did, and tried to identify the location of the nearby ghost.

With a sigh, he started walking towards where he felt it, invisible and intangible.

* * *

Raven still didn't know what to think. She was more confused then she'd been in her entire life. Those red eyes... those evil red eyes... those red eyes that reminded her so much of her father...

And those green eyes. Those eyes that show pain similar to her own. Those eyes full of kindness, and yet hidden beneath layers of pain that no sapient being should experience.

She blinked, and realized that she couldn't see the ghost boy anymore, and that she was being dragged away. She looked up.

"Starfire?"

Starfire either didn't hear her, or ignored her. Either way, she was still being dragged, and Raven didn't like that one bit.

"Starfire!"

This got Starfire's attention. She let go of Raven and sat down, shivering slightly. Raven sighed. What they just experienced was tougher then anything they've done yet... and at the hands of a friend, to boot. Or someone Starfire THOUGHT was a friend, which was just as bad.

Raven looked left and right. She quickly realized that she had no choice... so she leaned down in front of Starfire and, with the hesitance of one not used to such things, slowly embraced her in a hug. "Shhh, shhhh, it's okay. It'll be okay."

Starfire just sobbed into Raven's shoulder, unable to help herself. Black energy shot off of her, orbs that practically radiated sadness. The orbs caused dents in all the surrounding buildings, but the two teens in the center either didn't notice or didn't care. Raven was never a comforter before, but she found... she liked it... it was nice, knowing that she was helping her... friend. Friend? Yes. That was what Starfire was. Her friend.

Starfire sobbed into Raven's shoulder, her mind a whirlwind of emotions. She didn't know what to think, what to do, how to act... her whole world was thrown askew, and it terrified her. She had been on many adventures before, but one thing that never varied was that friends were friends... always. But now... now she just didn't know anymore.

Danny Phantom was an enigma to all, except Starfire. Or so she thought. She knew what he was; a hero, pretending that he wasn't. Oh, sure, he acted cold, but she was confident that he would eventually return to his heroic activities and join the Titan's in their fight against evil. He was strong, sensitive and kind. Just what a hero was. Those green eyes of his radiated sadness, and kindness, and a wisdom beyond his age.

But those red eyes... those eyes of pure rage and evil... those eyes that Starfire knew would haunt her nightmares... they told a different story. It's been said on many planets that eyes are gateways to the souls, and if those red eyes lead to Phantom's soul... then she wanted to leave the planet and never come back, just to avoid him.

Starfire always knew that friends were friends, and enemies were enemies. But now... now she wasn't so sure. And it frightened her.

So she cried.

* * *

Danny watched idly as the strange puppet man was preparing some kind of ritual. In one hand he had a remote, which seemed to control the male Titan's bodies. In the other were three puppets, one for each of the Titan's that were being controlled.

He invisibly watched as the strange puppet man started up some kind of fire in a cauldron.. He long ago learned that invisibility and intangibility required concentration more then energy, so he quickly spent the time to mastered them. It was a rather useful skill to learn.

_'hmm. I wonder what would happen if...'_

Danny idly walked over to the puppet man, took the remote from his hands and, as said pupper man was panicking, dropped it into the fire.

_'There. That should stop this in the bud.'_

The Puppet Master desperately ran towards the cauldron as his life seemed to just... flow out of him. Danny gasped, his concentration faltering as he became visible. "No! The magi-i-i-i-..." With a short green flash, the Puppet Master just... stopped moving. As the life force of the Titan's returned to their proper bodies, Danny picked up the puppet master and held him, bridal style. He looked down at it with sad eyes as the Titan's looked at him.

"I didn't mean to kill him..."

Robin hesitated. What was he to do you do here? The Puppet Master was a villain, but he was just a puppet... right? He hesitantly walked up to Phantom and gently put his hand on his shoulder. "Hey, calm down... it's just a puppet... It was never alive."

Danny instantly grabbed Robins arm and threw him over. "Shut UP!" His fierce green eyes glared at the young leader. "Bah, I knew you were a child, but I didn't know you were this stupid!" Without looking, Danny pointed at Cyborg. "He's half machine! Machine's aren't alive! So is he less then human?" He turned away from the leader of the Titan's and started walking away, the Puppet Master still in his arms.

Robin looked up as the ghost walked away. What just happened...?

* * *

Robin was so busy comforting the crying Starfire, and Starfire was so busy crying, that they didn't notice when they returned to their proper bodies for a good ten minutes.

Finally, Starfire stopped sobbing. With tears still in her eyes, she sniffed as she opened her eyes. "Friend Raven... thank you."

Raven's mouth had a very slight upward curl. "It was no problem, Starfire."

They paused, and suddenly exclaimed each others names at the same time.

"Starfire!"

"Raven!"

"We're back in our bodies!"

They got up and moved, testing a few of their powers. Raven, ever the practical one, spoke up first.

"What happened?"

"I do not know, friend Raven. But I believe that our friends have triumphed over the strange puppet man!"

Raven was doubtful, but she didn't let it show. Instead, she took out her communicator and let it ring. "Robin. Raven here. You their?"

"Um... yeah."

Raven raised an eyebrow. Was Robin... distracted? It took a lot to do that.

"Meet at the tower?"

"..."

"Robin."

"Huh? Oh, yeah. See you there."

Raven hung up and looked to Starfire. "You heard that?"

"Oh yes friend Raven! It is time for a joyous celebration of freedom! Let us go!" With that, Starfire started flying away. Raven quickly followed.

-line-

Robin, Raven, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Starfire were all in the Titan's living room, doing a debriefing. Robin went first.

"...and that's when Phantom walked away with the Puppet Master."

Raven hmmmed, leaning back. "...he saved you. Interesting."

Starfire leapt up. "I am sure that foe Phantom is just trying to lure us into a sense of falsely believed security! He is surely going revive the man puppet and come after us!"

Everybody, except for Raven, was shocked at the Tamerian's outburst. She never got truly angry, or distrustful, at anybody... and against Phantom? Just the other day she was certain that he was a hero.

Cyborg was the one that broke the silence by asking the question that was on everybodies mind. "Yo, Star, what's got you so upset?"

"Foe Phantom is evil! He nearly killed friend Raven and me!"

The rest of them looked doubtful. Beast Boy spoke this time. "Are you sure about that? I mean, Phantom isn't exactly nice or anything, but that's a bit much."

Raven responded. "I can vouch for Starfire in this case, though he did save us in the end."

Robin, still trying to put his thoughts back together, asked the question. "So... he nearly killed you... then he saved you?"

Raven nodded. Slightly, but it was still their.

Robin leaned back, looking into the distance. "...we clearly don't have enough information to make a sound decision yet. Dismissed."

Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg left for their rooms. Starfire stayed.

"Star? Is their a problem?"

"Yes! Foe Phantom is still free! We must get him before he gets us!"

Robin shook his head. "Star, as loath as I am to admit it, he is better then us. All of us. Put together. Easily. We wouldn't have a chance."

"So you are going to do nothing?"

"I never said that. I said we needed information. We will not attack Phantom... but we will do research on his abilities, and how to counter them. We have next to no information on him. Until we met him, I didn't even know ghosts existed. We need more information."

"But-!"

"Star. I know you are worried. And I understand. But you are letting your emotions cloud your thoughts. Please, leave me for now. I need to think this over... why don't you go calm down?"

Starfire was clearly upset, but she nodded and walked away.

Robin sighed. This was all too much. How could something not alive be so much trouble... oh. Not alive. Robin bonked his head. How could he be so stupid? That's why Phantom got so angry at the 'never alive' comment.

Growling, Robin got up and stalked to his room. He needed to map out his thoughts.

* * *

Raven heard a knock on her door, interrupting her meditation. She gently landed and opened said door, letting a bit of her irritation creep into her voice as she said, "Yes?"

To her (lack of) surprise, Starfire was on the other side of the door. "Friend Raven..." She bit her lip, looking a bit shy.

"Yes?"

"Can I... um..."

"Yes?"

"Can I... meditate with you?"

Raven blinked, taking a moment to respond. This was unexpected... but not entirely unwelcome. She silently slid out of her room. "...certainly. Let us go to the rooftop." Surprising both Starfire and herself, she opted to walk with the alien to the elevator, instead of just phasing to the roof.

* * *

Danny phased through into his store, tossing the puppet in his arms to Fixit.

Said half robot easily caught it, and looked up at Danny. "...what is this?"

Danny turned human as he started walking to his room. "Was alive. Study. I'm off to bed."

Fixit was about to respond as he heard a door slam, signaling that Danny clearly didn't want to talk about it anymore. With a mental shrug, he took the puppet with him as he head to his lab, locking the store up on the way.

* * *

Slade was looking at the multitude of television screens in his layer. "...interesting. This could prove... useful... if it does not prove troublesome first." He turned off the screens and thought, sitting on his throne, going over all of the possibilities in his head. This was just a game a chess... and he always won when he played chess.


	9. Responsibility

**A/N: I have once again determined that I love you all. Period.**

**This chapter is going to be a bit shorter, because their isn't as much to say, but some pretty big changes start here. First off a big shout out to my new beta, ShatterMyMuse! Thank you bunches! He got rid of all of the little grammer mistakes in here. So, if you think it unusual how accurate some of these are, thank Shatter!**

**Now to respond to some reviews.**

**Icewolves: Yes, he is acting that way, isn't he? There is actually a good reason for that. Remember that Raven believed that no matter what her prophecy would come true, and she only fought it later because of her friends. Danny's circumstances are, believe it or not, a bit worse then hers, and he refuses to have a friend because of it. That's slowly changing, however. The bigger changes will happen in the next season, and the biggest ones in the fourth.**

**The Alien of Pluto: Well, the fact that I have a beta should help with my grammer. A lot. I hope you find one soon!**

**Brad W: I can't wait till' the episode when Starfire goes into the future. Hehehe...**

**Lord Sia: True, true. But I couldn't help it! I'm poisened by countless cool chess metaphors!**

**ZombieKillerLevi: Dani will come along. I've got this whole thing planned for her. And Terra, too. I can't say much, but I can say that by the end of this fic, the Teen Titans will have a lot more members then just five...**

**Pure Momo: Nah, Danny doesn't normally want a ton of control over his emotions, but in this case, he does. For a very good reason. Which will be revealed. Later.**

**Truefortune: DannyXRaven does start in this chapter, but they are both horribly scarred teens. It's going to take a while. A long while.**

**Rinchanmidnight: Oh, believe me, Starfire is much less naive now. After Danny nearly killed her, her world went all wonky. I'm not sure she's ever gonna recover from that, but it'll show in later chapters. Most notably when Robin is working for Slade...**

**Now, read, enjoy, and review! FEED MY ADDICTION!**

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or Teen Titans. Sadly.

Responsibility

_Which is worse? Being the cause of something, or causing it yourself?_

_What's the difference between thoughts and thoughtless actions?_

_Why do we fight?_

_Why do we try?_

_Does anybody know?_

* * *

Fixit was staring at the puppet on his lab table. He tilted his head, clearly confused. Well, clearly to anybody who knew him.

He had tried all manners of tests on this strange puppet. He had scanned it, poked it, prodded it, jolted it with electricity, and everything else he could think of, short of slamming it into the wall. Nothing did, well, anything. It just remained stubbornly inert.

He sat down on his chair, staring at the puppet in front of him. Danny claimed that it was alive, but it clearly wasn't. And it clearly wasn't organic. What could make something live that wasn't alive in any sense of the word?

Ah, of course. Why didn't he see it before?

He gently took out his newest set of tools and set to testing the puppet.

* * *

Danny grunted as he got out of bed, his permanent scowl already adorning his face. Grumbling, he phased his hands through the few pieces of furniture he had to get his clothing for the day. He quickly put them on, after phasing out of what he was already wearing, and walked down the stairs.

Last night was not something that he planned on repeating, so he did what he always did: he shoved down his emotions so far that they wouldn't interfere.

Quickly and efficiently he set up shop, preparing for the day... despite how much he didn't want to. He had a responsibility to his costumers, after all. The first thing he learned when he started up his shop was that he couldn't just open and close it without a care. He had responsibilities.

These ones, at least, wouldn't hurt anybody if he messed them up.

With that small thought of comfort, he flipped the sign leaning on the door to the side that said 'open'. He was ready to start a normal day with his normal routine.

* * *

"The Titan's are busy with their new foe under the water... the phantom is nowhere to be seen... excellent."

Slade leaned back in his throne. "Let's see what this ex-hero will do when the town is threatened... shall we? Send in the Slade bots. The visible ones. And avoid the bookstore; we don't want another encounter with 'Breakit'."

His butler bowed as he walked away, clearly going to implement his orders.

"Your move, Danny Phantom."

* * *

Danny hmmm'd as he turned another page in his book, a redone old magic book describing several different dimensions and the like. He briefly looked up, checked on the store, and then looked back down at his book.

Then he looked back up again.

Nobody was there.

This was quite strange... normally, at that point in the day, there'd be a good ten to twelve people in his store. He quickly went through his mental list of holidays, and there wasn't any that day that he was aware of... so why hadn't anybody showed up at his store?

He closed his book, carefully placing it on his counter. He then got up and walked towards one of the many windows in his store to look out... and he saw a city in panic. Well. Sorta. Just some robots stealing stuff. He took a brief look up and down the street, but no human (or other organic being) was there. Good. That meant nobody was in danger.

He turned around and went back to his desk, and continued reading his book. As long as nobody was in danger, and they weren't attacking him, it wasn't his problem.

Sure, it was a callous way to think of things, but it was how he survived. Stay out of what wasn't his business. That's how it went. Besides, they weren't hurting anybody. Not physically, at least. And they weren't ghost robots.

He did feel a twinge of guilt... but it wasn't his fault if the Titan's couldn't guard their town. They should be more vigilant, or perhaps have more team members.

Pushing his thoughts aside, he flipped the page. Interesting. Inter-dimensional gods.

-5 minutes later-

Danny's cell phone started ringing. He sighed. It was going to be his self-proclaimed quiet day, his special day for relaxation and reading. No training, no testing, no nothing. He quickly flipped open his old-style phone and pressed talk.

"Hello?"

"Hello. Danny. This is Fixit, and I am glad to pronounce that-"

In the distance was heard, "Is that master? Can I speak to master? I want to speak to master!"

Danny blinked. That was new. "Fixit, who was that?"

"That was-"

His voice was interrupted as a bit of a scuffle was heard, with intermittent sounds like 'Give that back!' and 'Just for five minutes!'

Eventually, the scuffle ended, and Danny heard a familiar voice on the line. "Master? Is that you, master? Thank you for saving me master!"

"...Okay..."

"Thank you thank you thank you, master! Hey, I'm not done talking to-"

Pretty soon Fixit was back on the line. "That was the Puppet Master, the puppet you gave me."

"...And he calls me master because...?"

"Because you saved him. Er, gave him back life. What have you."

"I see..." Danny was a bit startled. He did not expect this turn of events. So now he had a loyal cyborg and a slave puppet that knew magic. If this kept up, he'd have to get a tower like the Titan's.

"Apparently he kept his mind while he was... not alive. It is unclear how this happened, but I am trying to find out."

"How did you... erm... reanimate him?"

"An injection of ectoplasm."

Danny blinked. An injection of ectoplasm? Really? Did that mean that every stray rock he shot got a mind of it's own? He sure hoped not...

As Danny was pondering the philosophical consequences of giving a mind to everything he shot that wasn't alive (or a ghost), his phone spoke up again. "Danny? How are you able to speak to me? Isn't your store usually... crowded at this time?"

"Ah, some robots are going on a stealing rampage. People aren't in the area, so I effectively get the day off."

"...shouldn't you be fighting them?"

"No. I'm not a hero."

"But you can do a hero's deeds."

"I'm not going to do it, Fixit."

"But-"

"No."

Danny heard a sigh through the phone. "Danny, since I have come out of my self imposed exile, I have been reading up on every kind of literature that I could find. I have also recently found that comic books have a fascinating array of-"

"Is this going anywhere?"

"Ah, yes. I have recently read a passage in the comic book 'Spider Man', and have come across a passage that might be apt to this situation. 'With great power comes great responsibility.'"

"And how is that relevant?"

"You are the most powerful person in the city. You have great power. Does that not also make it your responsibility to use it wisely? Protecting the weak and innocent and such?"

Danny didn't like where this conversation was going. He knew deep down that his logic wouldn't hold up upon close scrutiny, and that made him nervous. This nervousness, as it went from subconscious to conscious, became irritation, which was evident in his voice. "And I would if anybody was actually in danger. Nobody is near the robots, and they aren't out to hurt anybody. Well. Not physically, at least."

"...you are annoyed."

"Yes. Yes I am."

"You are annoyed because you know I am right."

Danny shut his phone. No. No. No no. No. No. No. Fixit was _not_ right. It was _not _his responsibility. He would _not_ go out there. No. No. No no. No. No. NO!

He leaned back in his chair. He didn't know what to do. It wasn't his responsibility. He left all that behind. He would not go out there. He would not do a thing. He would just read his book, go to bed, and open the store tomorrow.

But... those people's stores... and the police where helpless...

No! No! NO!

He would stay here, where it was safe. He would stay here, where he could read. He would stay here, where he could hide.

But those others... they couldn't hide... they were being robbed...

NO! NONONONONO!

It wasn't his job! It wasn't his responsibility! It wasn't...

"Damn it."

Danny got up, turning into a ghost as he did so. He grumbled as he phased out of his store and faced the robots. "Look here, robots. I was having a fine day. And now, I'm not. So I'm going to take it out on you guys. Understand?"

The robots only response was to rush him.

"Perfect."

And the slaughter began.

One robot... two robots... three robots...

Danny expertly used all of his ghostly powers and physical skills to destroy all of the robots. One of them punched, he dodged. One reached for the head, he ducked. On tried for a kick, he phased through.

Twenty two robots... twenty three robots... twenty four robots...

All the while he was deftly punching through the variety of robots with ecto-enhanced kicks and punches, tearing through them like tissue paper.

Forty eight robots... forty nine robots... fifty robots.

And then, there was no more robots.

Danny looked upon the new scrapyard, a dispassionate look in his eyes. He wasn't even breathing hard. He tossed a robotic arm he was holding into the pile with a slight mental grumble. If he was going to get back into the game, he would need the right tools.

He started flying towards where he knew the Titan's would show up... the giant T.

* * *

The Titan's (and Aqualad), after an exhaustive battle with a recent underwater threat, were returning home. The Titan's sub rose above ground to the beach near Titan Tower.

Beast Boy and Aqualad were chatting like age old friends, comparing stories and enemies and all sorts of stuff. Unfortunately, their friendly chatting immediately stopped when Beast Boy got a good look at who was waiting for them at the beach.

Danny Phantom.

Just sitting on the a rock.

Staring at them.

The noise of chattering in the sub kept up for a while, until everybody's eyes were drawn to the ghost boy on the beach.

For a few moments, everybody was silent, the sub closed, Phantom staring at them. Robin silently opened it up, allowing access to the beach. Starfire, taking immediate advantage of the open hatch, flew out of the sub and started shooting Phantom with her star bolts. But with a flick of his wrist, a ghostly green shield was erected, blocking the starbolts from reaching their target.

"I am not here to fight, Starfire."

"I do not care! You are our enemy! We-"

Robin, recognizing that things would only get worse, quickly intervened. "Starfire! Halt! Let him speak."

"But-!"

"Starfire!"

Starfire let loose a small scowl, a first for her face, but she obeyed. She slowly floated down to right behind Robin, who had already gotten out of the sub. Everybody else was behind him.

Robin took a step forward. "What do you want, Phantom."

The ghost boy sighed as he got up, his head rolling around. He almost seemed... sheepish? "Yeah. Look, your town was under attack. By some strange looking robots."

"...And why are you-" Robin was quickly interrupted by Starfire.

"You were helping them, were you not? I am placing a bet that you are behind that attack!"

"Starfire!" Robin barked, looking behind his shoulder at her. Starfire had the grace to look a bit embarrassed as her gaze fell to the ground.

He turned back towards the ghost. "And why are you telling us this?"

Danny held out a hand. "To explain this. Give me one of your communicators."

Robin raised an eyebrow. "...excuse me?"

"You heard me. Hand one over."

This effectively silenced the group in front of him. Robin, however, after a moment, stepped forward, and handed one over. A variety of noises followed this, with almost everybody in the group saying that it was a bad idea. Danny and Robin ignored them all.

Danny leaned in to whisper to Robin's ear. "Call me only if you have no chance of victory. Understand? No. Chance. If you call me frivolously then I'll have to take vengeance."

With that said, Danny quickly disappeared and flew off.

Robin sighed as he turned back to the group. He raised a hand to silence them... which didn't work.

"Guys."

They continued to speak.

"Guys."

They were just getting louder.

"GUYS!"

That got their attention. Robin sighed. "Look, I understand that there are... reasons... to not give Phantom a communicator, but listen. He is more powerful then all of us, and he could just as easily as stolen one then asked for one. Easier, in fact. It was a show of trust for him to ask us... one that there was no real reason to refuse."

That brought up a whole host of other complaints, namely one from one teen alien princess.

"He tried to kill me!"

That brought a silence to the whole group. That pretty much capped what everybody else wanted to say. Aqualad, however, was only silent for a moment after Starfire's exclamation.

"What? He tried to KILL you? And you just gave him something that you can use to talk to him with? What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that he is stronger than all of us! Combined! Easily! He defended the city from a threat that would take all of us twice as long! I was thinking that this is only the beginning, and we need all the help we can get!"

Robin sighed, shaking his head after his tirade. "Look. I understand that it is hard to trust him. So don't. I certainly don't. We will call him if- and only if- we have no other choice. And in the meantime we will grow stronger, get more teammates, and Raven will do all she can to research ghosts. Right, Raven?"

Raven only nodded.

Robin grinned. "There. Any questions? Complaints?"

Starfire looked put out, but even she couldn't argue with their leaders logic.

Aqualad looked around at his fellow super-teens, and decided to try to break up the awkwardness. "Well... if that is all, then I guess I'll be going." With that said, he turned to leave.

"Hey, now, I just gave this spiel about getting stronger and getting more teammates, and you're just gonna leave without one?" Robin said with a grin.

_One hour later..._

After everybody had calmed down from the two bombs that Robin dropped on the rest of the team, Starfire was, as usually, hunting down Raven. She found her in her room.

"Friend Raven! Isn't it just glorious that friend Aqualad is now a titan? Isn't he just on fire?"

Raven sighed from her meditative position in the air and turned around. "On fire?"

"You know. He is warm to the touch. Like the sun. Hot?"

Raven mentally shook her head. "...ah. I guess."

"You guess? Who is on fire for you, friend Raven?"

A very, very slight blush appeared on Raven's face. "No one. Leave me alone!" Quickly using her powers, Raven pushed Starfire out of her room and shut the room, desperately trying to keep the image of a shirtless ghost boy out of her mind.

* * *

Danny sighed as he appeared inside Fixit's warehouse... only to be glomped by a miniature alive Puppet, screaming, "Master!"

Danny raised an eyebrow. Fixit shrugged apologetically. Puppetmaster snuggled with Danny.

It was going to be a strange night.


	10. Faces

**A/N: So. Four months. Yep. Uh-hu. I... really have no excuse.**

**Okay, fine, I _do _have an excuse, but's it's just that: an excuse. It's basically one of those emo stories that inspires really bad poetry. You know, the kind that Raven likes. But, regardless, here is the new chapter. It explanes the Puppet King, who I now call by his correct name, and it shows some more interaction between Danny and the Titans! I've got to keep it relatively slow, because I've got several seasons to go through before Danny's Epic Moment. Like how Robin's is the first season fanale, and Cyborg's is the third. Also thanks to KnightHawker, who pointed out something to remove. It'll be back, but I've gotta pace myself. Sadly ShatterMyMuse was busy and could not beta this chapter, but probs to him to keeping with my flakiness.**

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Teen Titans. Sadly.

Faces

_Truths... and lies._

_Masks... and faces._

_When truths and lies meet, which will win?_

_When faces and masks meet, which will win?_

_Is it even a fight?_

Danny the ghost boy looked down at the Puppet King, who was currently attached to his waist.

He then looked up at Fixit the cyborg.

He looked down.

He looked up.

He looked down.

He looked up.

"Fixit. Explain. Now."

"Ah, well Puppet King-"

"Master! May I explain, Master?"

Danny looked down at the hugging puppet. He looked up at the cyborg. He looked down at the puppet. "Alright. Explain. But first..."

"Yes, Master?"

"GET THE HECK OFF OF ME!"

The Puppet King leaped away from Danny. "Oh, sorry, Master! I didn't know you disliked being touched, Master!"

Danny groaned while rubbing his head. "...Right. Just... make sure it doesn't happen again. Now, please, Puppet King, tell us why you insist on calling me Master."

"Certainly, Master! My pleasure, Master! My story begins long long ago...

* * *

Back before Death was born, back before Gods existed, back before the invention of Language, there was a man.

This man looked upon the world, and saw loneliness. He saw others playing with each other, but he himself was alone.

He searched for a companion, but none would befriend him. He wasn't as strong as the others. He couldn't play their games.

He decided that if he couldn't find a friend, then he would have to make a friend.

He worked and worked and worked. How long he worked is unknown, because Time did not exist. Maybe it was millenia Maybe it was a moment. It is unknown.

But for however long he worked, he worked hard.

He studied the way people walked, the way they moved. He took wood and tried to copy it.

But it wouldn't move.

He tried again.

But it wouldn't move.

He tried again and again, in that moment that was millenia, and none of them would move.

As he tried again and again, he eventually got better. He learned about joints. He learned about the mouth. He learned about speaking, and walking, and hitting, and hands. He tried again and again.

But it wouldn't move.

After try and try and try, he realized that it wouldn't move because of the one thing he could not carve; the human heart. So he searched for a way to make it.

He searched on the land, in the sea, and over the mountains.

He searched the sky and the ground and the mind.

He could not find a way to create a human heart. But he did find a way to move it.

So he took his heart out and put it in his greatest creation.

I knew him as Master, Life-giver, Friend, Father, Parent, Idol, and Creator.

He knew me as Servant, Debt-holder, Friend, Son, Child, Fan, and Reason to Live.

You know him as Death.

Without his human heart, Life-giver felt a gaping hole in his chest, one that would never heal. So he searched for another one, and took his heart, and put it in his chest.

Father was satisfied with that, for a year, for a moment, for a century. But it didn't last. Creator devoured that heart, and so searched for another one.

Life knew that, with Death, there must also be Time. For without Time, Death would devour Life, for Life could not continue and thrive alone.

So Life created Time.

With Time there was Distance.

With Distance there was Change.

And so it was that a Change took place.

As Master wondered, searching for a new heart, I was left alone. Idol and his heart are connected, and so without him near, I cannot live.

So if I could not live, I decided to exist.

I spent time and time and time alone, searching for when Master would come near. And whenever a being died near me, I could live, if just for a minute.

They called me cursed, and evil, for I would live when Father was near. I did not care. I could feel joy in living, instead of just existing.

It was thus that Slade found me, and thus that Slade let me live.

And it was thus that you found me.

You have given me life eternal, given me a connection always to Parent, Master, Life-giver, Father, Idol, Creator. So now you are my Master.

-line-

Danny tilted his head as the Puppet King finished his story. He looked up at Fixit who looked gobsmacked.

Well, gobsmacked for him. His eyes were a fraction of an inch wider and his mouth was slightly open.

Danny looked back at the Puppet King, and he shrugged. "Well, alright then. I guess I have no choice in the matter. Fixit, teach the Puppet King what I do, who I am, and who you are... while I go to bed. It's been a long night."

He started walking away, turning back to his human form. "Oh, and Fixit? Get him and yourself some combat stuff. We're gonna show the Titan's how this 'hero' thing is done."

As Danny walked out of the warehouse, the Puppet King turned to Fixit and beamed. "Isn't Master wonderful?"

Fixit kept in an internal groan. At the rate Danny was collecting life debts, he'd have Slade working for him in under a month.

-line-

Robin waited in silence on top of 'The Fenton Works Book Store'. He didn't know why, but Slade's new minions where homing in on this location. Fast. He and his team barely managed to get into position on time. Robin was waiting in what looked like basement. A bunch of... strange... books and machinery where in there, and Robin had to convince his goth team mate to not take the spooky books.

Even if the majority of them where on ghosts.

And weren't available on the top floor.

...Damn. He _really_ wanted to read those books; they might give them a clue into the Phantom mystery!

*Crash* Robin watched as one of the black suited minions flew out into the street, covered in dark energy. In his hand a book was a book. "Titan's, go!"

Robin jumped down as Raven phased out of the ground. Starfire flew from the sky, Beast Boy reformed from a mouse, and Cyborg stepped out from an alleyway.

Robin stepped forward and, in his best 'cool leader' voice, said, "Game over. Hand over the book."

It was then that about ten other minions, all in the same outfit, appeared, and leapt into the fray.

The Teen Titans started fighting back only a moment later, the fluidity that only countless practice can grant guiding their movements. The played on each other, using each other to dodge and counter, and maintained their harmony.

Starfire would dodge an attack from one of their guns as Cyborg would take it out; Raven would be about to get shot as Beast Boy came to the rescue. Raven repayed the favor only a moment later.

It was slow going, but it looked like the Titan's would win... if this was a normal fight.

But one of the minions, the one with the book, saw no reason to stand around and wait to be taken out. After recovering from a well timed kick from the Boy Wonder, he turned around into an alleyway and ran. Robin, with a quick shout to his team, gave chase as the rest of the Titan's fought off the rest of the intruders.

He ran through alleyway after alleyway, jumping over crates and dodging under cloth lines. Unfortunately, the man in the black suit was beginning to pull ahead, having the advantage of being in front, with a clear line of sight.

Until, that is, a familiar fist hit him from the side.

Danny stared coolly at the man below him as Robin ran up. "D-Danny! What are you doing here?"

"I was just on my way home for a good nights sleep when I saw you two running nearby." He leaned down and picked up his book, opening it up and checking for any damage. "I figured that you'd end up here, so I took a shortcut. Can't let my special stock out of my hands, after all."

Robin slowly recovered from his heavy breathing, and absentmindedly kicked the man as soon as he looked like he was recovering. "What's in that book that's so special, anyway?"

Danny shut the book close. "None of your business. This book has some dangerous stuff in it." He started walking off. "There better not be anything missing in my basement when I get home. If there are I'm gonna be forced to get invade your tower to make sure you didn't take anything."

Robin mentally scoffed that a single human teenager could invade Titan Tower, but neglected to say anything about that. He needed to talk to Danny about something much more important. "Wait!"

Danny slowly turned around, raising an eyebrow. "...yes?"

"What do you know about ghosts?"

A pregnant pause followed that. Danny's face froze as he thought through everything that he could say here, and everything that he should not say here. He settled on, "Any ghost in particular?" even though he knew the answer.

"Danny Phantom."

Yep. There it is. Danny couldn't help it; he let loose a quite laugh. "Heh. More then you'll ever know."

Robin was slightly annoyed. He could sense a slight a mile away, and while it was subtle, he just knew that Danny was teasing him. With years of practice, however, he could easily hide his annoyance. "Will you tell me?"

Danny paused, and cocked his head in mock thought. "...No."

Robin growled slightly. "Why not?"

"Because I don't like you, and you don't need to know." Robin opted to glare at the teen from under his mask. "Come now, Robin, that won't work on me. I've seen things that'll make you run for the hills if you just heard of them coming after you. I've studied things that people have been killed for knowing people who might know about it. I'm not telling you." He turned back around. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to move my stuff."

Danny walked off, leaving an annoyed Robin alone with his suspect. Almost as an after thought, Robin turned to the down guy and frowned. "Now to find out why you're working for Slade." He removed the mask, revealing... a small television screen.

The screen flicked into life, showing a Slade covered in shadow. "Hello, Robin. I must admit that I'm upset that you aren't paying me as much attention as I deserve."

"_Slade_," Robin snarled, "What do you want with that book?"

"Knowledge is power, Robin. And that knowledge is particularly potent."

"What do you mean by that?" Robin's every word dripped with menace.

"Patience, Robin. What say you we meet, and talk about this?"

"Tell me where you're hiding and I'll be there in a heartbeat."

"Patience, Robin. Patience. We'll meet soon enough. Unless, of course, you find that Danny boy more interesting. I might feel... slighted."

Before Robin could respond, the robot that he thought was a man sparked and became inoperable. Robin grunted as he kicked the machine away. He _needed_ to know what was up with Slade! Why was Slade interested in Danny? And what was Danny hiding? How could he find out?

-line-

Danny walked back to his store, an annoyed expression on his face. Truly, dealing with the Titan's childish behavior was tiring.

As he turned the corner to his store, he saw robot parts scattered around, and the remaining four Titan's panting, recovering their breath. Danny raised an eyebrow. "Well, if you're all done, why don't you leave? I have to get to sleep and move my books."

Starfire turned and squealed. "Friend Danny! I see that Robin has returned to you your book of secrete knowledge!"

"...yeah. Sure. Whatever. Now go."

"Not yet, dude." Cyborg spoke up. "Why was Slade interested in your book?"

"Not telling."

Cyborg frowned and crossed his chest. "Nu-uh. Not good enough."

Danny narrowed his eyes. "I'm not telling. Now, please, leave."

Cyborg frowned deeper. Starfire was flitting about between half robot and half ghost, not liking the conflict that looked to be emerging. Beast Boy was just looking between the two, his animal instincts screaming 'run'. Raven was staring at the book in Danny's hand, a curious and wanting look in her eyes.

Cyborg finally spoke up. "If you won't tell us, we won't leave."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

"Yes. We have permission from the city to stay and go anywhere in the city as long as we deem there is a reasonable chance there is going to be a super villain fight or threat there. So we're going to stay in your shop."

Danny chuckled slightly, annoying Cyborg. "What?"

"My shop isn't owned by the city. The deed to the land, the shop, the air above it and the ground below it belongs to me."

Cyborg blinked. The only people that he could think of to have that kind of influence... the kind to just buy land in the middle of a super villain infested city, were Bruce Wayne and Vlad Masters. And the chances of this punk kid knowing either of them, let alone knowing them well enough for a personal favor, was about as likely as him going above one hundred percent.

In other words, zero.

Starfire could see that Cyborg was about to up the confrontation, and decided to try and head it off. "Friend Cyborg, perhaps we should leave now. If Friend Danny is truly unwilling to show us his book, then we should respect his wishes, should we not?"

Cyborg ignored her. "...Prove it."

"My my," Danny said, shrugging and shaking his head. "Is that any way for super hero's to treat an honest and every day citizen like myself?"

"We trust honest and everyday citizens. Not citizens that have strange weapons and books that interest super villains in their basement."

Danny had to give him that one. "Touche. Stay right here."

Danny went right down to the basement and picked up one of his many copies of his dead. He walked right back up and handed the copy to Cyborg. "Here's a copy of the deed."

Cyborg scanned it with his eye. It seemed ligetament. With a sigh, he handed it back over to Danny. "...fine, fine. We'll leave."

"Thank you," Danny responded graciously, though his tone was anything but. "Oh, and next time, defeat the super villain's robots _before_ they get into my basement."

Cyborg frowned. "Yeah, yeah."

Starfire floated up hopefully to Danny. "Friend Danny, I was-"

"No."

"But-"

"No."

Starfire pouted. "Why are you so mean?"

"Because I feel like it. Now shoo."

Danny started rubbing his forehead. Why did every Titan feel the need to say something personally to him? Beast Boy was up next. "Yo, dude. Sorry about Cy. I don't know why he acted that way."

"I don't know either, and I don't care. Now please, have a good night. Away from me."

Beast Boy bobbed his head, not willing to upset Danny any further. And his animal instincts where screaming 'Get away! He'll kill you!' It was a major conversation deterrent.

Last, but certainly not least, was Raven. She did her float walk to get near him, and said, "I would like to read that book."

"No."

"Then any other book in your basement?"

"No."

"...Why not?"

"Would you let me read one of the no doubt many mystical tomes that you own?" Danny countered.

Raven, thrown off by this, responded on reflex. "No."

"Why not?"

Raven took a moment to respond. "...I see your point. May I suggest a trade?"

Danny frowned. "...you may suggest..."

"We temporarily swap books. Given the amount of books I saw down there, you are searching for... something... correct?"

Danny did not respond, which Raven took as a yes.

"I, too, am searching for something. If we swap books, we both might get closer to our goals."

Danny pursed his lips. "Temporary swaps, and some books will not be swapped."

"Of course."

Danny nodded slowly. "...I find that... acceptable. Weekly trades?"

"That will work."

"Good. I will see you at my shop tomorrow." Danny turned around as Raven floated away. He walked down to the basement and put back in its place 'Theory's on the Ghost Zone by Jack and Maddie Fenton', locked the store, and went to bed.

-line-

As Raven floated back to the tower, her thoughts couldn't help but wonder. Wonder why she was so eager to make a trade with Danny Fenton. Why she was so eager to see him tomorrow. Why she was so eager to trust him.

Normally, even if others offered a trade, she would not let anybody else touch, let alone read her books. They were much too dangerous for normal people to read.

But Danny was... different. There was something about him. The artificial calm with the torrent of emotions underneath. The calm and rational way he thought of things. And his eyes...

They were... similar.

She wasn't thinking about getting romantically involved with him. No, not at all... that would only lead to tragedy. But still... he was... not nice, exactly, but comforting to be with. And she could get every drop of comfort she could find.

-line-

Danny awoke in the middle of the night to the tinkling of a broken window. He willed himself awake and leapt down the stars, running down to the basement, not even aware that he transformed halfway there.

His ghost senses extended, he was a bit surprised at who was down in the basement. But soon he didn't care. It just got him angry.

Instinctively flying down, he saw a teenager in a black costume with a black cape. A distorted red X was on his chest and his strange skull mask. In his hands was a book very important to the owner of the store.

"Well well well. Decided that playing hero wasn't for you?"

The teen turned to look at the invader. "...I have no beef with you, ghost. Just walk away." His voice was distorted, probably by a device in his mask.

Danny snorted. "I don't think so, Robin." The black teen started a bit. "I told you that if anything was missing from my basement I would invade your tower. I wonder how your team would react if I told them you stole my book? Or... did you already leave them?"

They started circling each other in the tiny room. Robin spoke up. "...How do you know who I am? And why are you talking like you are Danny?"

Danny took a quick mental once over. Oops. He made a mistake. Acting like Danny while he was Phantom. Ah, well. The ghost boy grinned. "Secrets, Robin. As you well know. Or perhaps you really think every super powered teen goes out as they are?"

That paused Robin. Though you couldn't see it through his new mask, his eyes narrowed. "...I see. This makes sense. I have many questions for you." They resumed circling each other.

"Oh, questions. I'm sure they're just eating you on the inside. However, I've got no answers for thieves."

Robin growled slightly, but had no answers.

Danny stopped, leaving Robin's back to the stairs. It was a tactical move of Danny's part to avoid leaving anything in the way of being damaged with his starting combat charge. "So, Robin, what will you do? This could ruin your reputation. No one would trust you. I have contacts in places that would make sure that this gets out everywhere."

He slowly held out his hand. "Hand over the book and this won't get anywhere. Run and flee and it will get everywhere... in addition to more then a few bruises when I beat you up."

Robin had, if nothing else, a tactical mind. Currently it is sharpened with rage at the irritant before him. Tactically, he had no advantage in running. His chances of getting away was about... ten percent, and that was only because the night favored run aways. However, even if he did manage to run, Robin had no doubt the human ghost would fulfill his threat.

Robin tossed over the book. Danny caught it. "Wise choice."

Robin grunted, and took off his mask. "How did you recognize me?"

"Your ecto-signature. It's unique to everybody."

Robin sighed. "Pha- ...no. Danny. I need your help."

"And why should I help you after you nearly stole one of my books?"

Robin just looked away at that comment. "...Slade wanted that book. I want Slade. That book was... _is_ an 'in' with him."

"No."

"But I need that book to-"

"NO! You don't get it, do you? Even if there is a one percent chance, even if there is a millionth of a percent chance that somebody like Slade can get their hands on any of these books in this room, I can't hand to you! The information in this book involve theories and idea's that, with a devious enough mind, could cause havoc and destruction wherever he wanted!"

Robin's eye's widened slightly. "It could let him twist minds, twist souls to his desires! It could let him make a bomb that only effects those that he wants! It could let him destroy the world!"

"That kind of stuff is in there?"

Danny snorted. "Of course not. But it can be taken that way. Theories on altering the ecto-signature. On how to control ghosts and where they appear. I have read and memorized this every book in this store thrice over, and I know better then anyone the horrors it could unleash."

"..." Robin didn't know what was in that book, but now he knew that he couldn't let it see the light of day. "Why not destroy it?"

"...I need it for my research." Robin paused again. That sounded like something Raven would say.

"Fine. But I still want your help."

Danny just raised a questioning eyebrow in response.

"I want your help to corner Slade."

"No."

"But Danny! Slade is a psychopath that will do anything to get what he wants! I... no, _we _need your help!"

"No, you don't." Danny raised a hand to forestall the inevitable denials. "This is just a mystery, and you're taking it as a contest, to see which one of you is better. He's hiding from you, and you're too impatient to wait for a mistake."

"Of course I'm too impatient! His every plot has to be for some evil plan!"

"So you're willing to aid in that plot just to get information?" Danny shot back.

"I wouldn't of given him the book!"

"But he would have taken it from you! You could have made a fake! You could have asked for my help in staging a fight! But no! You just had to solve this mystery on your own! You just had to be better! THERE IS A REASON YOU'RE ON A TEAM!"

Robin stepped back as if he was slapped. He... truly didn't have a response to that. If one that hated hero's, and hated teams as much Danny Phantom could recognize his problems... Robin turned around and started walking away.

Danny's voice stopped him, however. "...A secrete for a secrete. You keep mine, I'll keep yours."

Robin turned his head slightly, just enough so Danny could see his nod, before he continued walking away.

Danny waited before Robin was out of sight before turning back. He groaned. "When am I going to get a good nights sleep in this city?" He put the book back in it's place before wandering back up to his room. Wait...

Danny sighed and opened up his cellphone. Fixit answered the call. "...yes?"

"Fixit. I need Puppet King to guard my store. It's been broken into twice now."

Danny could practically hear the slow nod on the other end of the line. "Very well. I will give him a couple of ecto-guns for self defense."

"That would be nice. We really need to give him something better to defend himself with."

"Agreed. Permission to start working on something... special?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"...It'll be a surprise."

Danny pursed his lips in thoughts. He trusted Fixit, as much as he trusted anybody, but he didn't like surprises as a rule. "I expect it to be something amazing."

"Of course."

"And don't forget my belt!"

"Never."

Danny shut his phone and collapsed onto his bed. He knew Fixit would give a key to the Puppet King, and all would be well. At least he hoped all would be well long enough for him to catch up on his sleep. He was exhausted after a long day and night... he really, really wanted some rest. Lots of rest. Lots and lots of rest.

Maybe he'd sleep through the day tomorrow. But Raven was coming to the store tomorrow... maybe not. He better get up early and shower, actually. He wanted to make a good impression, after all.

He was so sleepy that he didn't notice his thoughts turning to ways of impressing Raven.

He'll have a week to study a new book. New knowledge. And Fixit would work on something for the Puppet King.

Surely, by the end of the week, things would be looking up.

-line-

Robin wearily walked into Titan Tower. He was tired. He was weak. And he had some thinking to do.

Now that he thought about it, whenever somebody was about to get away, he just abandoned his team to chase after them. He never accepted help from his team, and more often then not just left them to do his own thing.

Sure he was the leader of a team... but he wasn't really part of it.

Well, he thought, straightening his back, he'd just have to fix that. Some more team exercises, and actually asking them for help when they were better for the job.

He should have everything done in... about a week.

In a week, he'd be part of the team he lead. Just one week.

-line-

Slade frowned on his throne. He... miscalculated. Robin should have tried to go undercover, but for some reason, he didn't. ...He was planning the Mad Mod fight in a month, but perhaps in a week would be better.

Yes... one week. In one week he'd up his game.


	11. Open Secretes

**A/N: Okay... one month. Better then before, but still. My many and numerous apologies. Anyway, one thing that I noticed is that Toonsurfers videos are down. They are linked to Megavideo, which doesn't have the episodes. Hulu, as well, only has the video's on , and those aren't really what I'm looking for. Add to that that I'm not willing to browse through the giantness of Youtube, and I've got a connundrum.**

**Now, I'll be able to work around it. I have a Netflixes subscription, and they have TT on DVD, so I suppose I can do that. But, if only for the sake of effeciency and not waiting, I would prefer to watch it online. So, if anybody has a link, please send it to me via a PM. Please and thank you.**

**Oh, and a rockin thanks to everybody that reviewed and my two Beta's, Knighthawker and ShatterMyMuse! Responses to reviews at the bottom.**

I own neither Danny Phantom nor Teen Titans. Sadly.

Open Secretes

_Secretes smell._

_They stink like nothing else, and only grow in strength the longer it's left alone._

_Even if nobody else knows what smells, they can tell it's on you whenever they get close. It's there. Always there._

_Some people can hide the stench so long that it becomes part of them._

_Some are so used to the stench that even they don't notice it forever._

_Some..._

_Some stink so much that they can't straight anymore._

Danny was relaxing in his bookstore, leaning back in his chair behind his desk. It had been a peaceful week. Shockingly peaceful, actually. That usually meant that some villainous fiend was plotting something, but as long as he got his rest, he really didn't care.

Right after he woke up after that absolutely exhausting day a week ago, he went and took a shower. He was still pretty stinky, and he had to be clean for his customers.

It had absolutely nothing at all to do with the fact that Raven would be showing up later that day. He just didn't want to scare away his customers.

After Raven showed up, he gave her, 'Ghosts and the Ghost Zone', and she gave him, 'Demons and Ghosts: What's the Difference?'.

Now that he thought about it, it's rather shocking how many books made in the last decade have accurate knowledge on the esoteric and paranormal.

So, after he got the book and bid her farewell, and definitely _not_ noticing the skin tight clothing she wore under her robe, Danny got ready for the day. Setting up chairs and the water cooler and the like. Surprisingly, this last week has been great for business. Donna and her crew started showing up every day after they saw Raven, increasing the stores 'mysterious cred'. He'd have to order some new books soon... he was beginning to run out.

Robin came by yesterday to discuss some... hero stuff with him. And again bugging him for his book. He even offered him a room in Titan Tower!

Like he'd live in a giant T. He had _some_ dignity.

But Robin seemed to really be trying to become friends with him... much to his annoyance. He didn't need or want friends. Ally's, maybe, but not friends. Never friends. Never again.

As Danny was resting and relaxing, Fixit and the Puppet King had been hard at work. Fixit got that surprise done, and Danny had to admit that he liked what he saw. It was perfect for the strange little puppet man.

Fixit also finished improving his ecto-belts; now he couldn't remove them on his own. He had to get somebody else to turn the dial to unlock them. It was a safety feature just in case he got a little too drunk on power.

Also, his ice and lighting powers _finally _recharged. Seriously, with two belts on it's practically impossible to access either of them, and he dug into them a little too much during the incident with Starfire's sister.

He gently closed the book he'd been reading, snapping out of his musings. He actually finished on the second day after Raven lent it to him, but he wanted to read it more thoroughly and take some notes. It had some interesting theories on how demonic magic and ghost powers interacted. If only he had a demon to test them out on...

Just as he was wondering where he'd get a demon, his Titan Communicator rang. He quickly took it out of his (very deep) pocket and flipped it open, away from the peering eyes of his customers. "What!" he whispered as loud as he could without rousing suspicion.

Robins head was on the other side. "Phantom, listen. We got caught off guard by a British super villain and won't be able to defend the city until we get out. Knowing Slade, that means that something else is going to go down soon. I'll need you to deal with it."

Danny paused in thought. "How did he catch you off guard? You have an entire tower of defenses."

Robin coughed to the side in subtle embarrassment. "Well... you see... he knocked us out in our own tower. We woke up here."

"And you're not out yet because...?"

"We woke up in chairs designed to keep us put. We only just now got back together."

Danny scowled, but nodded his acceptance. "Beef up your security when you get back to your tower, will you? This is the second time someone's invaded your home."

Robin looked ready to argue back when an irate Starfire started shouting at him for 'contacting the not friendly enemy'. If Danny wasn't so anti-social, he'd find her rather cute.

With a sigh, he took out his _second_ communicator, made by Fixit, and beeped said Fixit, who promptly answered. "Fixit. Titan's in trouble, something is probably going to go down soon. Get Puppet King ready. I imagine that we're going to have some trouble soon."

The only response that he got was the clack of a hang up. Danny nodded as he put both communicators away, and stood up, preparing to shut the store down for the day.

_Aw, well,_ he thought, _at least I got a week._

* * *

Robin narrowed his eyes in annoyance at his team. "Titans, stop!" He yelled, causing them all to practically fall over themselves as Mad Mod ran away, laughing.

"See you later, duckies!" The British hypnotizing villain shouted.

"Dude!" Beast Boy yelled. "What was that about? We had a perfect opportunity to chase him down!"

"Yeah, man!" Cyborg came in, "He was right up there!"

Raven just narrowed her eyes in subtle annoyance... as her cape billowed behind her.

"Perhaps friend Robin has a better idea then chasing him down?" Starfire said.

"Thank you, Star." Robin said with a nod and a smile, "We know this is Mad Mod's world, but that's all we know. If there's one thing that I learned here, it's that nothing is as it seems."

"Tell me about it," Beast Boy interjected, "Animal studies didn't have a single living animal!"

"Not only that," Robin continued, "But at least one of us is susceptible to his hypnotism tricks, and can only be brought out by laughter."

"Hey! He totally won't get me again. I'm immune now." Beast Boy said with a hint of pride... before turning around to a hypno screen. And getting hypnotized. A bit of drool came out of the side of his mouth.

"Somebody please get him out of that," Robin asked tiredly.

Raven, who was the once closest to Beast Boy, asked Cyborg, "A little help here? I don't do 'funny'."

"You asked for it," Cyborg said with a grin. He put his finger in his mouth and removed it, dripping with saliva. He then did a very careful surgical procedure... inserting said wet finger into Raven's ear. Beast Boy woke up laughing, and Raven flared her powers in surprise.

"Dude!" Beast Boy said when he realized he'd been hypnotized again.

"Therefor," Robin barreled on, ignoring Beast Boy's plight, "We need information. Cyborg, scan for living signatures. Raven, expand your senses. Beast Boy, turn into a bat and use echolocation to get a read on this place. Star, defend them with me."

They blinked, all slightly surprised at this. They were in the middle of enemy territory, with Mad Mod who knows where, and he wanted a _scan_? When he obviously just left through the door right up there?

Still, Robin was the leader. They started to follow there orders when Mad Mod floated down from the ceiling in front of them. "Now now, duckes. Independent studies not for another three periods. I'm afraid you've failed the entire course. Quite disappointing," he said in his annoying English accent, fake disappointment layed on thick to every work.

Robin wordlessly tossed a bird-a-rang at him, which he dodged by floating upward. "Now now, violence towards the teacher'll go on your permanent record." He tsk'd and shook his head. "I guess that I'll just have to put you into the remedial courses." He laughed as he pressed a button on his staff, which caused robot statues and paintings and books to fly into the room.

Robin made a snap decision, and relayed his orders. "Starfire, protect Beast Boy. Cyborg, Raven, on me. Titans, GO!"

* * *

Danny was flying over the city to where Fixit and The Puppet King were waiting for him. He couldn't very well have ex-super villains live in his shop, now could he? Especially not one in which two of the Titan's regularly came to frequent.

As he flew, he extended his senses over the city. He couldn't detect much, but he could detect... something. Something was going to happen, today. Nothing ghostly, or anything like that. It's just... something. It's the kind of sense that Hero's develop after years of experience. It's a little too quite, or a little too loud, or just the way the wind blows...

Danny was starting to get worried. Not worried that he wouldn't be able to handle it, per say, but worried that he wouldn't be able to make it to warehouse on time. It was at the other side of the city. He sped up, faster and faster, faster then he had ever went before... he a saw a flash of... something... and he was inside the warehouse.

Danny was disorientated, and confused. Something had happened, and he felt weaker.

Though he could still dodge The Puppet King's surprise glomp.

He shook his head of the cobwebs, and hoped that he would still be able to fight well enough that he wouldn't be embarrassing himself. He saw Fixit's various tools and machinery, and Fixit himself standing in wait. The Puppet King tried a surprise glomp from behind, which was also dodged.

"Ready?" Danny said.

"Yes," responded Fixit.

"Always Master!" The Puppet King eagerly replied.

Danny nodded his satisfaction. "Fixit, is there anything on the police radar?"

"Not yet, Danny, though I have located the most probable location that Slade will strike."

Danny was surprised, though he didn't show it. "Good. Show the way."

"Master! Master!" The Puppet King was jumping up and down, waving his arms. Danny suppressed a sigh as he turned to look.

"Yes, Puppet King?"

"I have an idea too, Master! I think he'll strike at the downtown magic store!"

"I have calculated that that is the fifth most likely place for him to strike. I believe he will return to your bookstore." Fixit stated.

"No! Fixit's wrong! It's the magic store!"

"It will be your bookstore."

"Magic store!"

"The bookstore is the most likely target."

"Magic store!"

"Do you even listen to reason?'

"Magic store!"

"Evidently not."

"Magic store!"

"Enough!" Danny shouted. "Fixit, I assume your location is based off of carefully formed mathematical equations?" Fixit nodded. "Puppet King, what is your location based off of?" The Puppet King looked down, and Danny got the distinct impression that if he wasn't made of wood, he would blush.

"Weeeeeell.."

"I'm waiting."

"You see..."

"Puppet King, tell me. Now."

The Puppet King sighed. "It's a feeling I got."

"...A feeling."

"...yes."

Danny groaned. "Great. Okay, we're going to the magic store. Fixit, keep an ear on the police reports. Puppet King, lead the way."

The Puppet King gleefully looked up. "Yes, Master! Gladly, Master!"

Fixit balefully looked at Danny. Well, as balefully as he could when he never showed any emotion anyway. "Why are we following the wooden midget?"

The Puppet King decided to delicately express his opinion by making a sound that sounded suspiciously like a raspberry. Danny, however, used crude words. "We don't enough about Slade for any formula to truly exist, and The Puppet King has had all of time... literally... to hone his senses. That, and the magic store _was _on your list."

Fixit didn't agree with that logic, but he didn't argue. Instead he simply nodded. Danny was the leader, after all.

"This way!" Squeaked The Puppet King. Fixit groaned internally. This was going to be a long trip.

* * *

Robin back flipped out of a laser from one of the floating statue heads onto Cyborgs prepared arms, which he then pushed forward, sending Robin flying. He drew out his bo staff, and whacked the statue into dusty oblivion like he was playing baseball. Those daily team training sessions were really paying off.

"Beast Boy!" He shouted as he landed on the floor, "How's the mapping going?"

Beast Boy quickly reformed into a human to answer, "Need some more time! These statues are messing everything up." He reformed into a bat right before a hypno-screen appeared in front of him... which did nothing, because he was as blind as a bat. Literally.

Robin nodded. He suspected as much. He dodged to the right as he saw Raven lift Cyborg up with her powers, and toss him towards a cluster of flying robots.

Yes, those team training sessions were really paying off.

* * *

Danny watched as Fixit did his transformation into Breakit. It actually managed to surprise him, but he limited himself to raising a single eyebrow and saying, "Impressive."

Breakit didn't look smug, but The Puppet King could tell that's what he felt. "Thank you, Danny. I prepared it just in case I needed to get out on the field."

The Puppet King tried to pout... until he realized that his body wasn't made to do so. So instead he settled for looking out for Slade's robots.

...which were right around the corner. "Master! Master!"

Danny sighed, and turned to him. "Yes, Puppet King?"

"The robots are here, Master!"

Danny looked where the Puppet King was pointing, and nodded. "Very good." The Puppet King exuded smugness towards Breakit. "Now, why don't you show us how well your new tool works in combat?"

"Yes, Master! Right away, Master!" The Puppet King reached behind his back and drew out of... what looked to Danny to be an extra-dimensional pocket... two wooden puppet handles. The Puppet King held them out in front of him as the robots started bearing down on them, and soon they started glowing with a green light; most of the robots continued moving.

The front two robots, however, suddenly stopped moving.

Danny nodded in a appreciation. "I see they work on Robots."

"Oh, Master," The Puppet King said in a creepy voice, "This is only the beginning."

After a moments pause, they two robots glowed with a green light, just like The Puppet Kings puppet handles. They then started moving, bashing all the robots nearby.

"Now that is more like it," Danny said in appreciation. "How do the handles work, Breakit?"

"By coating the handles with your ectoplasm," Breakit began as The Puppet King tore through the first wave of robots with his puppets, "The Puppet King can access the core of his power, Death's Heart, through them. In addition, because it is your ectoplasm, the same ectoplasm that is in The Puppet King, he can more fully control it based on his personality."

The Puppet King laughed manically as he bashed and tore through the robots. Whenever one of his robots went down, he just possessed another one, and the cycle of destruction continued. "In summery," Breakit said, "By channeling Death's power, The Puppet King can enforce his will on anything. It won't enable him to levitate rocks, but if it was a golem with working joints, he could control it at will even if it didn't have a power source. Anything that could be considered a puppet, he can control."

Danny nodded as he looked on the scrap of metal that The Puppet King had reduced the robots too. "Nice."

"Unfortunately," Breakit continued, "Prolonged use causes acute exhaustion." The Puppet king fell down on his butt, panting. "It should improve as he gets used to the handles, and begins to develop his own ectoplasm based on yours."

Danny doubted that The Puppet King could develop his own ectoplasm, but he kept his doubts to himself. "I see. Can you continue, Puppet King?"

The Puppet King responded, panting. "Yes... Master..."

Danny nodded, trusting The Puppet Kings words. "Very good." Another wave of robots rounded the corner, and a third was coming up from behind them. "Let's get ready, shall we?"

* * *

Robin kicked a robot into Raven's net of power. "Beast Boy! Do you have the map yet?"

Beast Boy turned back into a human, again. "Dude, I do, but it's confusing! It says we're in a ten meter square box!"

Robin looked to the left and saw pillars. He looked to the right and saw some stairs. "New plan, everybody! Wreck everything!"

"Dude!" Beast Boy yelled. "I've been waiting for this!" He transformed into a T. Rex... only to face another hypno screen. He turned back into a human and fell to the ground, onto Starfire.

Starfire sighed as she caught Beast Boy as Cyborg chuckled at the sight, and focused his lasers on the wall. It tore through them like tissue paper. "Booyah!" Raven seamlessly shifted to focusing more on destroying the robots that Cyborg and Robin should be taking care of, as Robin threw some extra boomerangs to destroy the walls.

Robin couldn't help a grin creeping up on his face. This whole battle... it was going so much more _smoothly_ then any battle from before. He could _feel _the difference. It was incredible! Is this what the others feel when they fight together?

At that moment, Robin truly knew the difference between leading a team, and fighting as part of it.

* * *

Danny, Puppet King, and Breakit were each fighting the single hord of Slade-bots... individually.

Danny Blasted a robot... which flew into Breakit.

Breakit broke a robot... that The Puppet King had just possessed.

The Puppet King destroyed a robot... that Danny was just about to take care of.

They were whittling them down, sure, but only slightly faster then any of them could have done alone. The Teen Titans were in synergy. Danny's team was only... well, they were trying there hardest.

It didn't help that The Puppet King and Breakit were both constantly trying to destroy each others targets before the other could.

Finally, Danny was sick of it. "Enough! Breakit, take the side away from the store. Fixit, the side near. I'll take the middle. Move it!"

It took a couple of moments, but pretty soon they took there sides. The battle quickly went a lot smoother, but Danny was still unsatisfied.

Robin could run his team so well, and here he was barely keeping them from hitting each other!

This would have to change.

* * *

Robin nodded in satisfaction, looking out over the ocean. Mad Mod's room of hypnotism was in a submarine out in the bay, and as soon as they destroyed all of his technical gadgets the (surprisingly old) man was easy pickings. The police were sending a chopper at the moment.

Everything was wrapped up. He was certain that Danny had taken care of the city while they were out, despite Starfire's mistrustfulness of the ghost boy.

...now that he thought about it, how can someone be half alive and half dead? It didn't make any sense. To be dead, you would have to have been alive. Have been as in past tense. Maybe he should ask...

His thoughts where interrupted by Starfire's worried, "Robin!"

Robin blinked himself out of his monologue and turned around to see Starfire carrying a drooling Beast Boy. She puts him in a sitting position before continuing, saying, "I cannot awaken him. I have tried the tickling, all manner of bodily noises, and the word 'underpants'. I fear that this time his brain is lost to us forever!"

Raven blandly raises an eyebrow. "Beast Boy had a brain?"

"Bwahahahahaha! Good one!" Beast Boy said, snapped out of his hypnotism. The rest of the group, satisfied that Beast Boy was alright, starts walking towards where the helicopter will land. Then Beast Boy realized what Raven had said. "Hey! I totally have a brain! I just don't use it much..."

* * *

Slade pounded on his throne in anger, watching the recordings. Not only did this 'Danny Phantom' have the mysterious Breakit on his side, now he had the traitorous Puppet King! Not only that, but Robin seems to be closer to his team then ever!

He leaned his elbow on his elbow rest, and massaged his head with his hand. He was consoling himself with the fact that Robin's connections would make him all the easier to manipulate... and that Danny's team was useless. Danny himself could probably take care of any two threats that the Titans faced, but in that mess of a team, he could hardly take care of one.

He'd have to take care of them before too long, though... but for now, he could take his time.

After all, Danny Phantom didn't strike Slade as a 'team player'.

And that would be his downfall.

**A/N: Review time! I'm thinking of adding this section every time I update. What do you guys think? It's to answer questions and give props. Sadly I can't answer all 31 (OMG 30+ reviews per chapter!) every time, buy I'll try to respond to questions and the like. But I love you all regardless!**

**In regards to the Puppet King: I'm glad that you guys all like it! I was kinda worried that some people wouldn't like him, but it just kinda came out, and I can't very well develop a character without a backstory. Besides, he's hilarious. I mean, really, he's just great!**

**Some Guy: In regards to Danny fixing the Teen Titans... well, yes. Robin was stupid in the first season, and they're giong to face much bigger threats as time progresses. Those invisable robots of Slade's? I haven't forgoten them. In addition, there is a bit of a split here, as Robin is the only one that trusts Phantom. It's a diffrent split, sure, but it's there. Things aren't perfect. Also, Robin _doesn't_ trust Danny, not completely, but he's smart enough to hear words of wisdom (as long as it's not from Slade, about Slade, or remotely related to Slade).**

**That said, Robin still wants Danny on his team. Danny, at this point, could beat all of them in 1 on 5 combat. It'd be difficult, but it's possible. It's hard to just let that raw potential for good fly away after every fight, you know?**

**Leo112: Awesome poems, dude. They also really fit with the story in general. Props!**

**Funkatron: O_O No. Way. FUNKATRON! You were the first DP/TT auther that I read! Awesome!**

**Princess3170: Sadly, I have a perfect point for her to come in... later. Much later. I miss her too! ;_;**

**ErraFawkes: TWO poem-masters! Great! And ya, time isn't really on my side. Like, ever. I was born one second to the left of the time-space continum. But I try!**


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